Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award

Sporting award

Summary

Sporting award

The Most Outstanding Canadian Award is annually awarded to the best Canadian player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Lew Hayman Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy winner from the West Division. The winner of the award is chosen by the Football Reporters of Canada since 1954. Players born outside Canada may win the award if they become citizens and attain National status.

Player achievements

The most wins by a player is four, for both Russ Jackson (completed in 1969) and Tony Gabriel (completed in 1978).

The first two-time winner, and also the first to win the award in two consecutive seasons, is Normie Kwong, in 1955 and 1956. The first three-time winner is Jackson, achieved as of 1966, while Gabriel is the only player to win three consecutive awards, from 1976 through 1978.

When a Canadian player is voted the recipient of the CFL's overall Most Outstanding Player Award, they are, of course, the recipient of that same season's Most Outstanding Canadian Award. Only five players have achieved this recognition: Jackson (1963, 1966, 1969), Gabriel (1978), Jon Cornish (2013), Brady Oliveira (2024) and Nathan Rourke (2025)

CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award winners

YearPlayerPositionClub
1954Gerry JamesRBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1955Normie KwongRBEdmonton Eskimos
1956Normie Kwong (2)RBEdmonton Eskimos
1957Gerry James (2)RBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1958Ron HowellFWHamilton Tiger-Cats
1959Russ JacksonQBOttawa Rough Riders
1960Ron StewartRBOttawa Rough Riders
1961Tony PajaczkowskiOGCalgary Stampeders
1962Harvey WylieDBCalgary Stampeders
1963Russ Jackson (2)QBOttawa Rough Riders
1964Tommy GrantFHamilton Tiger-Cats
1965Zeno KarczLBHamilton Tiger-Cats
1966Russ Jackson (3)QBOttawa Rough Riders
1967Terry EvanshenWRCalgary Stampeders
1968Ken NielsenFWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1969Russ Jackson (4)QBOttawa Rough Riders
1970Jim YoungWRBC Lions
1971Terry Evanshen (2)WRMontreal Alouettes
1972Jim Young (2)WRBC Lions
1973Gerry OrganKOttawa Rough Riders
1974Tony GabrielTEHamilton Tiger-Cats
1975Jim FoleyWROttawa Rough Riders
1976Tony Gabriel (2)TEOttawa Rough Riders
1977Tony Gabriel (3)TEOttawa Rough Riders
1978Tony Gabriel (4)TEOttawa Rough Riders
1979Dave FennellDTEdmonton Eskimos
1980Gerry DattilioQBMontreal Alouettes
1981Joe PoplawskiSBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1982Rocky DiPietroSBHamilton Tiger-Cats
1983Paul BennettDBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1984Nick ArakgiSBMontreal Concordes
1985Paul Bennett (2)DBHamilton Tiger-Cats
1986Joe Poplawski (2)SBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1987Scott FlagelSWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1988Ray ElgaardSBSaskatchewan Roughriders
1989Rocky DiPietro (2)SBHamilton Tiger-Cats
1990Ray Elgaard (2)SBSaskatchewan Roughriders
1991Blake MarshallFBEdmonton Eskimos
1992Ray Elgaard (3)SBSaskatchewan Roughriders
1993Dave SapunjisSBCalgary Stampeders
1994Gerald WilcoxSBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
1995Dave Sapunjis (2)SBCalgary Stampeders
1996Leroy BlughDEEdmonton Eskimos
1997Sean MillingtonFBBC Lions
1998Mike MorrealeSBHamilton Tiger-Cats
1999Mike O'SheaLBToronto Argonauts
2000Sean Millington (2)RBBC Lions
2001Doug BrownDTWinnipeg Blue Bombers
2002Ben CahoonWRMontreal Alouettes
2003Ben Cahoon (2)SBMontreal Alouettes
2004Jason ClermontSBBC Lions
2005Brent JohnsonDEBC Lions
2006Brent Johnson (2)DEBC Lions
2007Jason Clermont (2)SBBC Lions
2008Kamau PetersonWREdmonton Eskimos
2009Ricky FoleyDEBC Lions
2010Andy FantuzSBSaskatchewan Roughriders
2011Jerome MessamRBEdmonton Eskimos
2012Jon CornishRBCalgary Stampeders
2013Jon Cornish (2)RBCalgary Stampeders
2014Jon Cornish (3)RBCalgary Stampeders
2015Brad SinopoliWROttawa Redblacks
2016Jerome Messam (2)RBCalgary Stampeders
2017Andrew HarrisRBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
2018Brad Sinopoli (2)WROttawa Redblacks
2019Henoc MuambaLBMontreal Alouettes
2020Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021Bo LokomboLBBC Lions
2022Nathan RourkeQBBC Lions
2023Brady OliveiraRBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
2024Brady Oliveira (2)RBWinnipeg Blue Bombers
2025Nathan Rourke (2)QBBC Lions

Team achievements

Teams represented by Most Outstanding Canadian Award winners through the years.

Club# of winnersMost recentTotal for nine clubs67
Ottawa Redblacks/Renegades/Rough Riders122018
BC Lions122025
Winnipeg Blue Bombers112023
Calgary Stampeders92016
Hamilton Tiger-Cats81998
Edmonton Elks/Eskimos72011
Montreal Alouettes/Concordes62019
Saskatchewan Roughriders42010
Toronto Argonauts11999

Notes:

References

References

  1. https://www.cfl.ca/gibsons {{Webarchive. link. (2015-09-28 Gibsons Finest Player Awards)
  2. https://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_ocanada {{Webarchive. link. (2011-05-18 Most Outstanding Canadian)
  3. "CFL Guide & Record Book: 2023 Edition". [[Canadian Football League]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

canadian-football-league-trophies-and-awards
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report