Johnson, Flory among those who should be on Hall of Fame shortlist

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/03/2018 (3117 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Mark’s CFL Week begins its second term of engaging fans in the middle of the off-season, the first event will be the unveiling of the 2018 Canadian Football Hall of Fame class. The event takes place March 21 at the Pinnacle Club at Investors Group Field.

The CFHOF brings in between five and seven new members each year. Of those, three or four can be former CFL players, and no more than two can be amateur players or veteran players. (A veteran player is someone outside of the 25 year window of eligibility.) Of the inductees, both professional and amateur builders are eligible, one each per year.

So in anticipation of the reveal this Wednesday night, I took a long, hard look at the eligible former CFL players only — listed at www.cfhof.ca — and to consider who should be welcomed into this prestigious club. To say it is an overwhelming list of Canadian football excellence is an understatement.

Let’s start off with an 11-year veteran of the B.C. Lions, defensive end Brent Johnson. Not only is he the Leos’ all time sack leader with 89 pivot kills, but he was a two-time Most Outstanding Canadian for the CFL, and also Most Outstanding Defensive player winner. He managed to pick up two Grey Cups along the way, and was a five-time divisional all-star, and three-time league all-star.

He was one of the very first defensive line protegés of Richard Harris in the CFL (former Lions and Bombers defensive line coach), and simply overwhelmed offensive linemen with his tenacity and pace. Johnson played a position that used to be overwhelmingly American. Defensive end is such an impact spot for a team, rarely did franchises even contemplate giving their non-imports an opportunity to compete for these spots. Johnson chewed up that concept and established himself as one of the best to bring it off the edge.

Next, it would be hard to argue against including former Montreal Alouette guard Scott Flory. In offensive line terms, he has Chris Walby numbers. And, in fact, very much a Walby-type resumé. Eleven-time divisional all-star. Nine-time CFL allstar. Two-time winner of the Most Outstanding Lineman in the CFL. And probably the most technically sound guard I’ve ever seen on the field, with enough physicality to handle any type of rusher.

Few offensive linemen were as calculating, studied, and prepared as Flory, who was also as tough and durable as they come. Without players like Flory and former centre Bryan Chiu in front of him, Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo would probably be the first to tell you how his career could have gone down a very different path. Flory and Johnson are my two shoo-ins for the 2018 induction.

For my third and final player guess-timation (even though four CFL players can be inducted), I’ve got a tri-fecta of “outliers.” Outliers only in the sense that there is a virtual smorgasbord of elite CFL talent to choose from, and you have no idea which way the panel of judges might lean, in any given year. It says here that one of my Killer Bees — Barron Miles, Barrin Simpson or Bryan Chiu — will also be joining this crew of generational players.

Few linebackers were more prototypical-middle-linebacker than Simpson — aptly nicknamed the “Minister of Defence.” A downhill style with sideline-to-sideline range, in his prime, you’d take Simpson in the hole with any tailback, one-on-one.

Chiu was the smartest and most effective centre in the CFL during the Alouette dynasty of the 2000s where Montreal played in eight Grey Cups over 11 years. Chiu had a nasty, dangerous edge to him, and was equally adept at both run and pass blocking.

Lastly, Miles reset the bar for exceptional play with his work at safety over 12 years in the CFL. A six-time league, and nine-time divisional all-star, he retired second in interceptions, behind Less Browne with 66.

Hard to go wrong choosing any of these elite, storied players, for a final honour of their illustrious CFL careers.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97