The Edmonton Eskimos were unaware of the criminal investigation involving Euclid Patrick Cummings over the season the defensive tackle played with them in 2017.

The 26-year-old native of Atlanta was playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when an incident took place in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 2016, and had already been signed by then-Eskimos general manager Ed Hervey when Cummings was charged on April 21, 2017, with four criminal offences involving two alleged victims.

“We were unaware of the charges and will not comment further as the matter is before the courts,” offered a statement provided by the Eskimos, who happened to be between general managers at the time the charges were laid.

Ed Hervey, who initially signed Cummings on Feb. 27, 2017, was fired by the club on April 7, 2017, while his replacement, Brock Sunderland, was hired on April 24, 2017.

Hervey signed the six-foot-four, 300-pound Georgia Tech product for the second time in as many years, this time as GM of the B.C. Lions, to a reported $160,000 contract on Feb. 13, only to see it voided by the Canadian Football League on Wednesday once the charges – including sexual assault, assault and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to one person, and the sexual assault of another – came to light.

“Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the B.C. Lions,” the league said in a press release. “As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

Cummings, who signed with the Lions on the same day his contract with the Eskimos expired, tied for the team lead with eight sacks, finished second in the CFL with three forced fumbles and earned 21 tackles in 2017.

“We support the commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing,” read a statement from the Lions attributing Hervey. “We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation.

“Given that matter is before the criminal courts and under a publication ban, we will not be offering further comment.”

Email: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

Every once in a while, something happens that makes you stop and realize just how much the world has changed in a very short amount of time.

Take this week’s news that recently signed B.C. Lion Euclid Cummings had been charged last May with four criminal counts, including sexual assault, for an incident that allegedly occurred in Vancouver in October 2016 when he was a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Just a few short years ago, in what we will call the pre-Ray Rice era, this would have been a story, not a scandal. And there’s a decent chance Cummings might have been able to continue playing right up until his day in court, based on the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Instead, the Cummings story is an embarrassment to the CFL, and questions are being asked about who knew what and when, and who else should have been drawn into the loop. Most importantly: How is it that a player could face such serious charges without anyone knowing and manage to play the entire 2017 season?

This demonstrates the kinds of things pro sports league and teams have to be thinking about, because simply turning palms upward and saying, “we didn’t know” won’t do anymore.

The details of the Cummings case are that the Blue Bombers were aware in the fall of 2016 that there had been an alleged incident involving Cummings in Vancouver that police were investigating.

Cummings met with police when the Bombers played in Vancouver for the West Division final in November 2016, but by the time he left Winnipeg for Edmonton via free agency the following February, charges still hadn’t been filed.

In other words, even if the Eskimos had run his name through a background check, nothing would have turned up.

So, was it incumbent on someone to let the Eskimos know Cummings was the subject of an investigation a few months earlier, and still might be? Whose responsibility would that be? The league’s? The Blue Bombers’? His representative’s?

And would it have been fair to Cummings, who hadn’t been charged at that time, for either the league or the Bombers to tell the Eskimos about the alleged incident before they signed him? What would Edmonton’s reaction have been if they’d been told after they signed him?

Cummings was charged in April but no one in the CFL seemed to know about it. He played the 2017 season in Edmonton without so much as a whisper about his troubles off the field. And so, last month Lions general manager Ed Hervey was unaware that Cummings was due to face serious charges in the city in which he’d just signed.

It’s worth noting the charges against Cummings occurred during a brief window when there was no full-time CFL commissioner, between the exit of Jeffrey Orridge and the arrival of Randy Ambrosie. Whether that is significant or not is impossible to say.

The question becomes whether a league these days should be expected to track and follow every one of its players who is ever investigated or accused of something, even when no charges are laid. Could you ask a league to run its players’ names through police information checks twice a year? Is that really where we are?

Cummings’ trial is set for October, although the league voided his contract this week upon learning of the charges, a decision the Lions publicly endorsed.

That’s a positive sign of the times, of the lowering of the threshold of acceptance for violence against women, one that began in the football world with Rice and continues right up to today’s #MeToo movement.

But if that’s the new standard, the CFL and other leagues need to have policies and procedures in place that reflect that.

The CFL should start by making it the obligation of every player and agent to make their employer aware any time one of them is charged with any sort of offence. The punishment for failing to do so should be an immediate suspension and a substantial fine, and possible expulsion.

Cummings is the second CFL player to sign a contract this off-season without his team being aware of a criminal charge. Saskatchewan’s Duron Carter signed a new deal with the Roughriders in January, less than two months after being charged with having more than 30 grams of marijuana with him at the Winnipeg airport, something the Roughriders claimed to know nothing about.

The fact that Cummings played the entire 2017 season after being charged with such a serious offence is and should be an embarrassment to the league.

It’s a situation that, in this day and age, shouldn’t happen again.

TORONTO — The CFL voided Euclid Cummings’ contract with the B.C. Lions after the player was charged with four criminal counts, including sexual assault.

The league made the announcement about the contract Wednesday after learning of the charges the defensive lineman was facing, but provided no further details. However, Vancouver Provincial Court documents indicate Cummings was charged April 21, 2017, with four criminal offences involving two alleged victims.

The alleged incidents occurred in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 2016. At the time Cummings was playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who faced the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium on Oct. 14, 2016.

Cummings, 26, of Atlanta, is charged with sexual assault, assault and uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm to one person and the sexual assault of another.

The six-foot-three, 300-pound Cummings signed through the 2018 season as a free agent last month with B.C.

“Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the B.C. Lions,” the league said in a statement Wednesday. “As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

B.C. general manager Ed Hervey said he had no idea of Cummings’ legal woes when he signed the player.

“We support the commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing,” Hervey said in a statement. “We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation.”

Cummings had eight sacks and 21 tackles last season with the Edmonton Eskimos. He has also spent time with Winnipeg and Toronto.

TORONTO — The CFL voided Euclid Cummings’ contract with the B.C. Lions after the player was charged with four criminal counts, including sexual assault.

The league made the announcement about the contract Wednesday after learning of the charges the defensive lineman was facing, but provided no further details. However, Vancouver Provincial Court documents indicate Cummings was charged April 21, 2017, with four criminal offences involving two alleged victims.

The alleged incidents occurred in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 2016. At the time Cummings was playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who faced the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium on Oct. 14, 2016.

Cummings, 26, of Atlanta, is charged with sexual assault, assault and uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm to one person and the sexual assault of another.

The six-foot-three, 300-pound Cummings signed through the 2018 season as a free agent last month with B.C.

“Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the B.C. Lions,” the league said in a statement Wednesday. “As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

B.C. general manager Ed Hervey said he had no idea of Cummings’ legal woes when he signed the player.

“We support the commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing,” Hervey said in a statement. “We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation.”

Cummings had eight sacks and 21 tackles last season with the Edmonton Eskimos. He has also spent time with Winnipeg and Toronto.

TORONTO — The CFL voided Euclid Cummings’ contract with the B.C. Lions after the player was charged with four criminal counts, including sexual assault.

The league made the announcement about the contract Wednesday after learning of the charges the defensive lineman was facing, but provided no further details. However, Vancouver Provincial Court documents indicate Cummings was charged April 21, 2017, with four criminal offences involving two alleged victims.

The alleged incidents occurred in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 2016. At the time Cummings was playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who faced the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium on Oct. 14, 2016.

Cummings, 26, of Atlanta, is charged with sexual assault, assault and uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm to one person and the sexual assault of another.

The six-foot-three, 300-pound Cummings signed through the 2018 season as a free agent last month with B.C.

“Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the B.C. Lions,” the league said in a statement Wednesday. “As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

B.C. general manager Ed Hervey said he had no idea of Cummings’ legal woes when he signed the player.

“We support the commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing,” Hervey said in a statement. “We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation.”

Cummings had eight sacks and 21 tackles last season with the Edmonton Eskimos. He has also spent time with Winnipeg and Toronto.

The CFL and B.C. Lions have nullified Euclid Cummings’ contract after it came to light Wednesday that the defensive lineman was facing criminal charges in a Vancouver court for sexual assault and threats.

Provincial court documents show the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Atlanta native was charged last April with four criminal offences involving two alleged victims stemming from incidents in Vancouver on Oct. 16, 2016. His team at the time, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, played their regular-season finale at B.C. Place on Oct. 14, 2016.

Cummings is charged with sexual assault, assault and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to one person, and the sexual assault of another.

The 26-year-old played 16 games the following season with the Edmonton Eskimos — his eight sacks ranking third in the CFL, his three forced fumbles second-best in the league, along with 22 tackles — but news of the charges — filed on April 21, 2017 — only surfaced Wednesday. The league and Lions were both quick to react, voiding his contract as per provisions in the collective bargaining agreement, and scrubbing his presence from their websites.

The CFL released a statement Wednesday. “Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the B.C. Lions. As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

Lions general manager Ed Hervey also released a statement, and declined further comment.

“We support the Commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing. We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation. Given that matter is before the criminal courts and under a publication ban, we will not be offering further comment.”

The Canadian Press reported that Cummings had signed a $150,000 contract with the Leos, including a $70,000 bonus that B.C. can’t recoup and will be counted against their salary cap.

The signing of the Georgia Tech product, who began his career with the Toronto Argonauts in 2014 and played two seasons there before moving to Winnipeg in 2016, was a big boost to the defensive line.

“Euclid is a young, up-and-coming lineman who definitely has the ability and potential to be one of most dominant interior players in the league,” Hervey said when Cummings was signed in mid-February.

“He’s equally skilled at playing the run and getting to the quarterback and never takes a play off.”

The revelation of the charges is particularly awkward, considering the Lions’ commitment to the Be More Than A Bystander campaign. Several members of the team have toured schools around the province, addressing the violence against women and girls and raising awareness of the issue.

Cummings appears in B.C. Provincial Court in Vancouver for trial on Oct. 15, 2018.

jadams@postmedia.com