Battle royale

Two-time CFL most outstanding defender epitomizes Blue Bombers linebackers

By: Gary Lawless Posted: 2:08 AM CDT Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014

Greg Battle was in on a lot of successful goal-line stands in his heyday and he pulled off another Friday, holding off a surge of late votes to be named the Winnipeg Blue Bombers all-time best linebacker by the slimmest of margins.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2014 (4077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Battle was chosen by voters taking part in the Winnipeg Free Press/TSN 1290 All-Time Bombers Team selection process.

“Awesome. That’s quite a list of guys and I was honoured just be on it,” said Battle, reached Friday afternoon. “The guys I played with were all special and had unique talents. Playing with them was the highlight of my career.”

With a brilliant list of candidates — Battle, Tyrone Jones, James West, Paul Randolph and Phil Minnick — balloting was very tight. Battle led heading into Friday’s final hours of voting, but Jones and West supporters pushed hard late into the afternoon to try and get their men over the top. But Battle, the CFL’s top defensive player in 1990 and 1991 and the Bombers all-time leader in tackles and fumble recoveries, won out.

Battle was instrumental in two Grey Cup wins for the Bombers — in 1988 and 1990. At his retirement, Battle sat third in the CFL for career defensive tackles with 766 and was chosen the Western Division’s outstanding defensive player three times (1989, 1990 and 1991).

The Arizona State product was named the Grey Cup’s defensive MVP in 1990, with four tackles and two interceptions, returning one for a 56-yard touchdown in a 50-11 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.

Battle was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

Voting began Monday and fans were given the choice of five linebackers as chosen by the All-Time Blue Bombers Team panel, comprising legendary coach Bud Grant, former player and GM Paul Robson, Hall of Fame football writer Ed Tait, Andrew (Hustler) Paterson from TSN 1290 and myself.

Next up is kicker. The Free Press print and digital editions as well as www.tsn1290.ca will run stories on Monday outlining the careers of the finalists selected by our panel. Voting will take place on both websites.

Vote a maximum of once per day and help choose the Blue Bombers player you consider the best at the following positions, to be presented in this order: Quarterback, offensive lineman, linebacker, kicker, kick returner, running back, defensive lineman, defensive back and receiver.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless