Bizarre Complaint From Texas Punter Sparks Controversy Surrounding Canadian Football League Tryout

A bizarre situation is unfolding in the Canadian Football League after an open tryout prompted questions and concerns. It revolves around the Edmonton Elks and dates back to April 29.

Former Texas punter Daniel Trejo, who began his career at Texas Wesleyan in 2017, started all 13 games for the Longhorns last season. He averaged 42 yards on his 45 punts in 2022, dropped 13 punts inside the 20-yard-line, posted a career-long of 61 yards, and exhausted his collegiate eligibility in Austin.

Trejo declared for the NFL Draft following his first and only year with Texas, but was not selected. Nor did he sign as an undrafted free agent.

In hopes of getting back on the field, Trejo attended Edmonton's open tryout at Pasadena City College in April. It was not what he expected upon arrival and he has since filed a complaint to the CFL Player's Association.

The Canadian Football League P.A. is aware of Trejo's complaint.

In a letter that was first viewed by FootballScoop, Trejo said that he was essentially used as an assistant throughout the afternoon. He was asked to time the 40-yard dash and set up the field for various drills.

The complaint also says that Trejo was required to wait seven hours and 15 minutes before even getting to kick on a day that reached the mid-70s, with hotter temperatures on the field. And then his portion of the tryout was conducted in a manner for which Trejo and his camp found unacceptable.

Once the workout began, Daniel was asked to perform an estimated fifteen kick-offs and fifteen field goal attempts. All before being asked to punt. (We) have never heard of anything like what the Elks required Daniel to endure and suffer.
Setting aside the unprofessional conduct, the workload exacted from Daniel put him at a heightened risk of injury, especially considering his almost 8-hour wait. This is inexcusable and cannot be tolerated.

In addition, Trejo alleges that the Elks brought just "one jug of water" for everyone at the tryout.

Daniel Trejo hopes to inspire systematic change.

Trejo was one of three specialists at the tryout. The Elks ultimately signed 36-year-old Dean Faithful. They did not move forward with Trejo, and he is hoping that his experience will spark a better way forward.

I honestly thought this was unfair considering for us this was a great opportunity to showcase our skills and more like a job interview and we were put in a tough spot from the beginning when we felt great.
I just don’t want this to happen to other specialists because we make a sacrifice to go down there for the tryout, spend money and time just to go down like that, and get told to keep working when I was ready to ball out since the beginning of the tryout.

Trejo says that he likely would not spend his money to attend another Canadian Football League tryout. Advocates on his behalf have requested that the Elks should reimburse Trejo for:

As of right now, the Elks have yet to address the complaint and claim to be unaware. According to FootballScoop, Edmonton said that it does not know of "any complaint, formal or informal, regarding our April 29 tryout at Pasadena City College."