Lui Passaglia, Dave Cutler and other football alumni demand removal from SFU Hall of Fame

Canadian Football Hall of Famers Lui Passaglia, Dave Cutler and Doug Brown are among 11 football-only members of the Simon Fraser University Sports Hall of Fame who are demanding they be removed from the shrine over the school’s decision to cease its football program.

School president Joy Johnson announced April 4 that Simon Fraser was discontinuing its football program, effective immediately. Johnson added it wasn’t a financial decision but was based on the Texas-based Lone Star Conference’s announcement it would not renew its football affiliation with Simon Fraser past the 2023 campaign.

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie, CFL Players Association executive director Brian Ramsay and Football Canada president Jim Mullin all wrote letters to Simon Fraser, U Sports and Canada West officials and football coaches condemning the decision. They also asked that SFU be allowed to continue playing football in Canada.

On April 13, five football players — quarterback Gideone Kremler, defensive backs Kimo Hiu, Andrew Lirag and Ryan Barthelson and linebacker Dayton Ingenhaag — launched a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court against SFU to compel the school to reinstate its football program.