Athletes are people too.

They walk like us, talk like us, and have thoughts and opinions like us. They are also getting really tired of the notion they need to shut their mouths and focus only on their craft. That’s like saying somebody who works at a restaurant should only be qualified to speak on food, and only when they are at work.

The latest fines handed out by Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, have that familiar, “shut up and play feel” to them.

In the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 30-23 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on July 16, Banks is seen trying to make his way through the fray of the Calgary sideline and back onto the field. He and an official get in each other’s way and bump, without ever making eye contact. Banks laughs and walks off. He was later fined for shoving an official.

In a tweet, the league’s leading receiver voiced his opinion on the matter, using an expletive with the short form BS to describe the fine. Almost immediately, he was fined again for violating the league’s social media policy.

It’s also worth noting under league policy Banks is entitled to an appeal. He wasn’t the only one. B.C. Lions receiver Duron Carter and Montreal Allouettes running back Stefan Logan were also fined for violating the league’s social media policy this season, though Logan probably deserved it for straight out going after a fan.

On one hand, I understand the argument these are professionals that understand the policies that govern them, and they shouldn’t be spending their time, or in this case money, on Twitter.

The other side of the argument is that these are human beings that have right to free speech, and the right to comment publicly on the factors that determine their livelihood. Carter criticized league refs after a blown call in a game between the Allouettes and Tiger-Cats.

Watching what you say on social media is a reality of the time we live in. Coming up through school I can remember teachers cautioning us on what we put on our Facebooks as future employers might see it. Fair enough. So what are we trying to portray here, football players don’t use the word BS?

Referees don’t blow calls?

We’re supposed to live in the fantasy world where grown men that get paid to smash each other in the mouth don’t swear, have opinions on referees, or god forbid share an opinion on something other than sport. We want our athletes to be larger and louder than life on the field, and then to go away until the next game.

Carter was not the only one with knowledge on the game of football to voice displeasure with the referees in the game he commented on, and anybody with a pair of eyes can see Brandon Banks did not push an official.

Instead of admitting their mistake, or allowing the people whose pockets they’ve just lightened to voice displeasure, they would rather hand out fines. There needs to be a line, but social media can be a great way for fans to connect with athletes. We want that connection, and we want the person behind the account to be real, as opposed to a hired communications person.

The only ones that are quickly find out they are not allowed to have opinions.

Carter and Banks aren’t the only players voicing problems with the league, and they extend far beyond poor officiating or bogus fines. Players were extremely unhappy leading into recent CBA negotiations, and while a few demands such as better healthcare were met, they didn’t come out singing CFL praise.

The league’s focus on international expansion, poor officiating, the inability to freely speak, and prior to the CBA, serious concern on healthcare insurance were major points of contention. Unless you look hard, you would never know this, because in the world CFL executives want us to believe, everything is sunshine and rainbows.

These people put their bodies on the line every day to go to work, and they are not millionaires like their NFL cousins to the south. These fines hurt the pocketbook. Is the physical punishment their bodies go through their choice? absolutely. That doesn’t make it sting any less when they watch their hard-earned money go down the tubes for something they honestly believe they didn’t do.

Say what you want about the players unprofessionalism, fining players left, right and centre for voicing opinions, especially against their working conditions, is bush league. Taking money out of player’s pockets is not going to make people believe the issues the players are speaking out on aren’t there.

Fixing them might, just don’t tell the CFL that. They will try to fine you for it.

jothomas@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Joshthomasrepex