Spotlight on young stars and Canadian talent for 2012 Gibson’s Finest CFL Player Awards

TORONTO-Young stars and Canadian talent dominated the headlines this season and today many of those players are being honoured as the East and West Division winners for the 2012 Gibson’s Finest CFL Player Awards, the Canadian Football League announced today.

“In a year that we are celebrating the 100th Grey Cup and our proud history, it was truly amazing to see today’s players perform at such a high level and set so many major CFL records,” said CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon.

This year’s East and West Division winners combined to set four major CFL single season records including most combined yards (Chad Owens), most rushing yards by a Canadian (Jon Cornish), most kick return touchdowns (Chris Williams) and most tackles (JC Sherritt). Williams and Sherritt were the 2011 East and West Division Most Outstanding Rookies, respectively.

This year’s winners are:

CATEGORY WEST EAST
PLAYER Jon   Cornish (CGY) Chad   Owens (TOR)
DEFENSIVE   PLAYER JC   Sherritt (EDM) Shea Emry   (MTL)
CANADIAN   PLAYER Jon   Cornish (CGY) Shea Emry   (MTL)
SPECIAL   TEAMS Tim Brown   (BC) Chris   Williams (HAM)
ROOKIE Jabar   Westerman (BC) Chris   Matthews (WPG)
OFFENSIVE   LINEMAN Jovan   Olafioye (BC) Josh   Bourke (MTL)

No unanimous selections

Cornish could become the first Canadian player to be named CFL Most Outstanding Player since Tony Gabriel in 1978. Only two Canadian players have been named the CFL Most Outstanding Player- Gabriel (1978) and Russ Jackson (1969, 1966, 1963).

The last Canadian player to be named the CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player was Brent Johnson in 2006. Only three Canadian Players have been named the CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player -Johnson (2006), Dave Fennell (1978) and Bill Baker (1976).

The East and West Player Award winners were selected by 70 voters, including members of the Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) and CFL head coaches.

Voters were asked to select players from their local CFL division who, through on-field performance excellence, best represent the awards’ title – Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Canadian Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player, Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman, Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.

The 2012 Gibson’s Finest CFL Player Awards will be handed out on Thursday, November 22 at Koerner Hall in downtown Toronto.

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