BCLions.com Staff
The BC Lions football Club announced their nominations for the CFL’s 2015 Outstanding Player Awards this morning.
Adam Bighill makes it three years running that a Lions linebacker is a double nominee for the club in both the Outstanding Player and Outstanding Defensive Player categories. The nomination comes almost a year after fellow ‘backer Solomon Elimimian made CFL history by taking home both league-wide awards last season.
Bighill currently leads the CFL with 117 defensive tackles along with four sacks. This is the second time the Washington native has earned the nomination as Outstanding Player (2013,’15), the third time as Outstanding Defensive Player (2012,’13,’15) and the second time he’s been a double nominee (2013,’15).
“It feels great to be recognized,” says Bighill of the honours. “It’s stuff that you don’t think about at the beginning of the season. Your ultimate goals is to win the Grey Cup, but as long as you put the hard work in and do everything you’re supposed to, awards will come, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. So it’s always nice to be rewarded at the end of the season.”
Andrew Harris, the CFL’s leading rusher with 997 yards and a league-best 1,460 yards from scrimmage is the Lions’ nominee asOutstanding Canadian. The six-year pro sits just three yards shy of his second 1,000-yard campaign and enjoys his third career nomination in the category (2012,’13,’15).
If he hadn’t already made a case as one of the club’s best offensive linemen in history, Jovan Olafioye certainly takes another step in that direction picking up his sixth-straight Outstanding Lineman nod (2010 -’15). The four-time CFL All-Star has not missed a single start during his six seasons in BC as he prepares for his 108th regular season appearance on Saturday.
Taking over the reins of professional sports’ most difficult position is a challenge, doing it as a first-year player speaks volumes of quarterback Jonathon Jennings as he pulls down Outstanding Rookie honours for his efforts in 2015. Over the past six games, Jennings has the best quarterback rating in the CFL at 108.9, the most touchdown passes (15) and the third-highest passing yards total (1,752).
“It’s really exciting,” says Jennings of getting the Most Outstanding Rookie nod. “Getting the respect of your teammates is really huge and I’ve had the ability to do some things, but it’s all based on what [the team] allows me to do, and teammates making plays. So it’s credit to the offence as a whole, and my teammates and my coaches. Travis, he had a big part in that in developing me as a player. I’m really excited about the opportunity we have coming up for us.”
Rainey weather has officially arrived on the West Coast as Chris Rainey races to his first Outstanding Special Teams Player award. The first-year speedy returner currently leads the CFL in average kickoff return yards (28.2) with four returns of 40 yards or more including a CFL-best 103-yard TD return along with a 103-yard punt return for a major.
Rainey received the vote after showcasing his speed and agility on both the punt return and kick return units since joining the Lions in September. In his nine games with the team, Rainey has notched 47 punt returns for 593 yards as well as 27 kick returns for 761 yards.
