Photo courtesy: Montreal Alouettes
Former CFL defensive lineman Shawn Oakman has signed with the Pennsylvania Benjamins of the International Arena League, the team announced on Tuesday.
Oakman was suspended indefinitely by the Canadian Football League on October 31 after a third-party investigation found he violated their gender-based violence and harassment policy. According to the CFL, the 34-year-old allegedly threatened to send sexually explicit material to an intimate partner’s child, who is a minor.
The Montreal Alouettes released Oakman later that same day. None of the allegations have been tested in court, and no criminal charges have been laid.
Oakman was signed by the Alouettes as a free agent in February 2025 and dressed for 17 regular-season games, recording 34 defensive tackles and five sacks. He was named an East Division All-CFL selection two days prior to his suspension being announced.
Prior to his stop in Montreal, Oakman played for the Edmonton Elks and Toronto Argonauts. In 76 career games, the native of Philadelphia, Pa., registered 156 defensive tackles, 27 sacks, five forced fumbles, one interception, and one special teams tackle. He won a Grey Cup with the Argos in 2022 and has been named an East Division all-star three times, earning one All-CFL nod.
The six-foot-eight, 280-pound defensive tackle began his collegiate career at Penn State, but was dismissed from the team after his freshman season after he was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, and retail theft for shoving a female cashier in the dining hall.
Oakman would transfer to Baylor University and develop into an All-Big 12 pass rusher, but went unselected in the 2016 NFL Draft after he was arrested two weeks prior to the event and charged with sexually assaulting a fellow student. Those allegations went to trial, with Oakman being found not guilty in February 2019.
Before coming to Canada, Oakman bounced around the Arena football circuit, playing for the Triangle Torch in American Indoor Football, the Bismarck Bucks of the Indoor Football League, the West Virginia Roughriders of the American Arena League, and the Wild Aces in Fan-Controlled Football. He also saw action with the Los Angeles Wildcats in the XFL.
The Pennsylvania Benjamins are based in Reading, Pa., and are a founding franchise in the International Arena League. The upstart league will have 10 teams for its inaugural season, five on each side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Benjamins play in the US Conference with the Arizona Juggernauts, Cincinnati Slingers, Las Vegas Rockers, and Utah Great 8s. The EU Conference features the Düsseldorf Warriors and Stuttgart Stallions in Germany, the Zurich Ibexx in Switzerland, and the England Eruptors and Glasgow Tartans in the United Kingdom.
Pennsylvania will play its first game on Saturday, April 18, against the Rockers at Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nev.
