2024 CFL Hall of Fame inductees

ModAdmin · May 03, 2024, 11:11:57 PM

2024 CFL Hall of Fame inductees are...

Marvin Coleman
Weston Dressler
S J Green
Vince Goldsmith
Ray Jauch
Ed Laverty
Chad Owens
Farhan Lalji
Steve Daniels

TecnoGenius · May 04, 2024, 12:31:30 AM

Sounds good to me! What city will get the HoF induction game? Or is it always HAM since the building is there?

Lalji going in a bit early... bit odd.

Love me some Dressler! Should be popular with the whole league. SJ too. All the picks are good.

ModAdmin · May 04, 2024, 02:47:47 AM

O'Leary: Dressler, Green, Owens fed off each other in HOF careers

They were on calls, separated by thousands of kilometres at different points in the day on Thursday. None of that mattered. Once Chad Owens, Weston Dressler and S.J. Green started talking about each other, it was like they were reading from the same script.

Starting with Dressler's 2008 Most Outstanding Rookie award win, then joined in 2010 by Owens' and Green's electric playmaking ability, the trio battled each other in receiving yards races, for replay and highlight time on TSN and for playoff and Grey Cup wins for the next nine seasons. None of them disappointed.

On Friday, it was announced that all three will be a part of the 2024 Canadian Football Hall of Fame's induction class.

"It's funny because me and S.J. you know, we were there (in Montreal) together on the practice roster," Owens told reporters from his home in Hawaii.

Owens eventually requested a trade to get the playing time he sought, which led to him being dealt to the Argos at the start of the 2010 season. Stuck behind an all-time great receiver group with the Anthony Calvillo-led Alouettes, Green bided his time and worked his way onto the active roster from the practice roster. His diving, one-handed catch in the 2010 season opener — appropriately enough against Dressler and Roughriders — marked his arrival in the league's upper echelon of receivers.

"Weston from a receiving perspective, he was that guy," Owens said. "That's what he did. "You can elevate each other and motivate each other throughout the course of the season. Weston makes his big plays, X amount of touchdowns. Man, okay, I know what I've got to do this week. S.J. comes over with this big, spectacular catch. TSN highlights. Man, I want that too.

"It's the type of energy that...(was) very cool. No animosity, no ego. It was just respect at the highest level and we just fed off of that competition. I couldn't be more excited to be going into this class with those two guys. It's very special. That time that we competed, man. On a weekly. On a daily."

Owens separated himself from the rest of the league, essentially, with his versatility. At five-foot-eight and 180 pounds, he became the first player in professional football to hit at least 3,000 combined yards in three consecutive seasons. He put it all together for a near-perfect 2012 season when he was named the CFL's MOP and helped the Argos to a win at Rogers Centre in the 100th Grey Cup, while setting the pro football record for combined yards in a season.

"It was easy (to be inspired by Dressler and Owens) because they were they were great at their jobs," Green said.

"Me watching Weston, (he) came in I believe in 2007 as well but he got to play right away. So I'm looking at him like, 'Man I want to be out there like him. He's making the plays that as a rookie, he has the opportunity to be a rookie of the year. It was easy to pull from those guys and to want to be the best. basically wanting to be the best, wanting to showcase my skill set and show that I was the best and putting it out there for the world to judge."

Green left the football world with plenty to consider. He was with the Als from 2007-2016 and played for the Argos from 2017-2019, helping the Double Blue to a Grey Cup win in 2017, the third of his career after being parts of the 2009 and 2010 Als' championship teams.

He's one of 18 players to crack the 10,000-yard receiving mark (10,222) and his 716 receptions place him 12th all-time. He had 30 career 100-yard games and had 60 touchdowns, while being named a Divisional All-Star eight times and a CFL All-Star twice. Playing the waiting game at the start of his career, watching coach Marc Trestman work with Calvillo and all of those talented receivers in front of him, he said on Thursday, put him on that path.

"I remember those days on the practice squad, competing, battling," Green said. "Those practice squad days for me as tough as they were mentally to to endure, I feel like those were the days that truly defined who I was based on the struggle that it took to get to where I eventually got to, because that's what made me who I was."

Standing at five-foot-seven with a playing weight of 167 pounds, if Dressler was underestimated because of his size at his position, he quickly made people pay for it. The 2008 Most Outstanding Rookie worked his way onto the Riders' roster and into fans' hearts through his eight seasons in Saskatchewan (2008-2015).

"For me at the time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into," Dressler said of arriving in the league. I saw it as an opportunity to keep playing football, that was what it was to me. I was grateful for that opportunity.

"As I went through my career in those first couple of years in Saskatchewan and realized what the CFL is all about with the Roughriders while volunteering, I just fell in love with it all. Really thankful that I had that opportunity and got to realize really what the CFL is all about." More in the link below...

https://www.cfl.ca/2024/05/03/oleary-dressler-green-owens-fed-off-each-other-in-hof-careers/

dd · May 04, 2024, 05:34:26 AM

Farhan is in the hall of fame?? Really?? Why??? What's he done that warrants this?? Wow

ModAdmin · May 04, 2024, 05:53:03 AM

Quote from: dd on May 04, 2024, 05:34:26 AMFarhan is in the hall of fame?? Really?? Why??? What's he done that warrants this?? Wow

From what I've heard and seen, he is a knowledgeable CFL pundit, a respected CFL reporter and an investigative and honourable sports journalist. I have no problem with him being named an inductee to the CFL HOF. He deserves it. He may be pro-BC Lions but generally he is pretty honest and fair in his reporting.

TecnoGenius · May 04, 2024, 07:38:41 AM

Quote from: ModAdmin on May 04, 2024, 05:53:03 AMFrom what I've heard and seen, he is a knowledgeable CFL pundit, a respected CFL reporter and an investigative and honourable sports journalist. I have no problem with him being named an inductee to the CFL HOF. He deserves it. He may be pro-BC Lions but generally he is pretty honest and fair in his reporting.

Farhan is quite good. He's on top of his game more than many of the others. He doesn't word-stumble on-air. He seems to have his "insiders" connections.

He also was surprisingly good at play-by-play in the booth a couple of games. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him in that role.

BUT... he hasn't had a big(ish) role in CFL@TSN for more than a couple/few years. And he still doesn't have as big a role as many of the others. So my question is: how many of the other panel guys have gotten in the HoF for their broadcasting role (at least partially)? I actually have no idea as for the life of me I can't recall if guys like Suits, Blackie, Forde, Stegall, have been inducted? (Stegall being (obviously) inducted for his player role wouldn't count, but a late induction that noted both roles would count.)

If most of the guys I listed are in the HoF, then great for Lalji. BUT if most of those guys are not in HoF, then it would strike me as odd they give it to Lalji before the "bigger" names. Lalji still has lots of time to grow into it.

ModAdmin · May 04, 2024, 04:49:25 PM

Quote from: TecnoGenius on May 04, 2024, 07:38:41 AMIf most of the guys I listed are in the HoF, then great for Lalji. BUT if most of those guys are not in HoF, then it would strike me as odd they give it to Lalji before the "bigger" names. Lalji still has lots of time to grow into it.

This will give you some info on the question of CFL journalists in the HOF.

https://cfhof.ca/hof-reporters/

Throw Long Bannatyne · May 04, 2024, 05:28:43 PM

Quote from: TecnoGenius on May 04, 2024, 07:38:41 AMFarhan is quite good. He's on top of his game more than many of the others. He doesn't word-stumble on-air. He seems to have his "insiders" connections.

He also was surprisingly good at play-by-play in the booth a couple of games. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him in that role.

BUT... he hasn't had a big(ish) role in CFL@TSN for more than a couple/few years. And he still doesn't have as big a role as many of the others. So my question is: how many of the other panel guys have gotten in the HoF for their broadcasting role (at least partially)? I actually have no idea as for the life of me I can't recall if guys like Suits, Blackie, Forde, Stegall, have been inducted? (Stegall being (obviously) inducted for his player role wouldn't count, but a late induction that noted both roles would count.)

If most of the guys I listed are in the HoF, then great for Lalji. BUT if most of those guys are not in HoF, then it would strike me as odd they give it to Lalji before the "bigger" names. Lalji still has lots of time to grow into it.

Speaking of Rod Black, I see his son Tyler Black made his major league baseball debut with the Milwaukee Brewers this past Tues., congratulations are in order.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/tyler-black-mlb-debut-milwaukee-brewers-rod-black-1.7190379

TecnoGenius · May 05, 2024, 01:45:44 AM

Quote from: ModAdmin on May 04, 2024, 04:49:25 PMThis will give you some info on the question of CFL journalists in the HOF.

So out of the last-decade TSN crowd there is in the HoF: Suits, Cuth, Schultzie, Naylor(!). That's it. So it may feel a bit like Lalji is jumping the queue, so to speak. However, he's certainly at the level of Naylor, so it's not unprecedented.

I wonder if Pierre Proulx has anything to do with our Mr. Andre?? And I'm a bit surprised to see Tait on there... cool!

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on May 04, 2024, 05:28:43 PMSpeaking of Rod Black, I see his son Tyler Black made his major league baseball debut with the Milwaukee Brewers this past Tues., congratulations are in order.

Cool! I've been to many a Brewer game in Milwaukee, lots of trips there when I was a kid. I'd love to get back there sometime soon to check out Tyler. Anyone going, stop at Kopps for the frozen custard.

Stats Junkie · May 05, 2024, 04:35:02 AM

Just a reminder that it is the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, not the CFL Hall of Fame.

Farhan Lalji has been covering sports in the lower mainland for nearly 30 years with a heavy focus on football of all levels (community, high school, junior, university, CFL, NFL). His football coverage has been front and centre on TSN, TSN 1040 & CTV.

In the TSN release, one of the accolades attributed to Farhan was the resurrection of the Hyack football program in New Westminster. He coached the team for a number of years culminating in a championship. He has stepped away from the Hyacks but he left the team in great shape.

Over the past couple of seasons, I have had a handful of walk and talks with Farhan as we make our way from the parking garage to BC Place. On one occasion last season, Farhan had just returned from watching a game south of the border (Blaine or Bellingham). He commented that the 4pm starts for the BC Lions would probably limit the number of games he could attend due to potential conflicts. He was also concerned with border traffic for games across the border.