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Sergio Castillo couldn’t wait to get something off his chest following a disappointing performance in the 27-12 season-opening loss to the Montreal Alouettes Thursday night.

Not one to complain or make excuses, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker had plenty of both after missing a pair of field goals and a one-point convert in the defeat. It was an uncharacteristic performance for Castillo, who over his seven years in the CFL, has a conversion rate of 86 per cent, with a 90 per cent success rate just last season.

His beef centered around an issue Castillo said has been percolating among CFL kickers for weeks. It has to do with the new footballs the CFL is using this year, balls that have computer chips inserted inside to gather statistical data for TV broadcasts as part of the CFL’s relationship with Genius Sports.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ kicker Sergio Castillo says he noticed a difference between the CFL’s new, chipped footballs and the original, non-chipped variety during this year’s training camp.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES

Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ kicker Sergio Castillo says he noticed a difference between the CFL’s new, chipped footballs and the original, non-chipped variety during this year’s training camp.

“I’m trying to not get fined here,” started Castillo. “It’s very frustrating when you put in the work — and I have a little one, I have a wife back home that I have to provide for — and we’re not given the proper equipment to do well. We have these chips in the footballs. Over camp, if I went 60 percent that was a great day. And when we went with normal balls, 90-plus percent. The whole camp.”

It was a rough night for Castillo, who finished the game making just one of his three field goal attempts. He converted his first attempt, knocking a 17-yard boot through the uprights to open the scoring and give the Bombers a 3-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

Castillo pulled his next kick wide left, from 38 yards out, but the play was salvaged by a safety called on Alouettes receiver James Letcher Jr. He’d miss from 40 yards early in the fourth quarter, resulting in a single-point rouge to cut Montreal’s lead to 18-6.

“I don’t know where to aim. Every time I’m out there, I’m literally praying the rosary.”–Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker, Sergio Castillo

To cap off the night, Castillo failed to convert on a one-point convert from 32 yards, the ball again sailing wide-left.

“I don’t know where to aim. Every time I’m out there, I’m literally praying the rosary,” he said. “And I hit them clean. It’s very frustrating. No. 1, it affects the team. It’s a momentum killer. We lost by, what, double digits. But it’s a momentum killer. And two, we could lose our jobs over this.”

Castillo continued: “Yeah, there was testing done, blah-blah-blah. But it wasn’t done by professionals. It wasn’t done by guys who play for you, your employees of the Canadian Football League. That is the thing that is very frustrating.”

Castillo received some support from fellow kickers around the league. He added that kickers from all nine CFL teams were against the footballs being used and had voiced their concerns with little success.

Ottawa Redblacks place kicker Lewis Ward and punter Richie Leone both took to X, formerly known as Twitter, after the game to vent their collective frustration and give support to Castillo.

“Chipped ball with the logo on the left and a missed FG to the left… Math checks out,” wrote Leone.

“No other pro league uses chipped footballs in the kicking game and every CFL kicker voted against these footballs,” added Ward. “This has a negative impact on the integrity of the game and is very sad for the league to disregard this issue.”

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo finished Thursday's game against the Alouettes making just one of his three field goal attempts..

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo finished Thursday’s game against the Alouettes making just one of his three field goal attempts..

About an hour later, Brett Lauther, kicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and an elected vice president of the CFL Players Association, issued a statement on behalf of all CFL specialists.

“We’re deeply disappointed and saddened by the league’s decision to use chipped footballs in the kicking game this upcoming season. The league chose not to use them in the kicking game prior to training camp after the feedback from players, multiple complaints of the balls not flying straight, bruising on players feet from the balls, the USFL experiment with the balls for two weeks and being pulled because of lack of field goals made,” Lauther wrote. “The CFLPA has exhausted all efforts to try and get these balls taken out and I even had multiple conversations with our president where he was told it would be resolved positively during camp and to keep kicking the non-chipped balls. Kickers were polled in the CFL and voted 10 to 1 to not use them plus tons of feedback on why and still the league waited until the night before game one of the regular season to decide to use these footballs that will eventually cost jobs and livelihoods.”

Castillo said he couldn’t pinpoint whether there was a physical issue was with the ball, only that despite hitting it clean, it wouldn’t sail the way he’s used to.

“It’s a trajectory issue,” Castillo said. “If you look at my balls, I get a nice little drop. Like I wish I had at my golf game. But instead, I have this rowdy hook.”

The CFL tested the chipped footballs last season for select games, going as far as warning players not to celebrate a touchdown by throwing the ball into the stands. Players who did, the league said, would be fine.