TrueBlue4ever

See my message just above yours for the explanation. I screwed up when I set up the poll and got the closing date wrong. Once I saw it was closed I tried to edit the post, but it won't let me change the closing date, so if anyone still wants to vote, just post on the thread with your 2 choices and I will add them to the results. UPDATE: I've tried editing it again and changing the closing date, so maybe it will work now. Someone let me know if you can still vote or not.

I will have an extra linebacker (2 inside/middle, 2 outside) and will also have 4 linemen (2 outside, 2 inside) so as not to have to decide 4-3 or 3-4. Our defence will have an extra player (as will the offence, with a RB, FB, 2 slotbacks, 2 WR and a 5th receiver). And no, I'm not concerned about ratio.

This begs the question of where Leggett should be listed. I'm inclined to put him with the defensive halfbacks, even though he was a linebacker half the time. Not sure he makes the cut in either position (certainly not as one of the 2 best outside linebackers all-time).

I had him on my original list of people to consider, but his numbers seemed lacking (certainly if Heath and his 7 ints. with the Bombers over 2 seasons and 2 CFL all-star nods don’t make the grade, then equal results and lesser accolades over a longer period of time would be questionable, no?). But I will put him on the nominations list and let the people decide. Democracy in action!

He won’t be. The question is which category, defensive halfback or linebacker?

I am debating where to insert Gord Rowland. He was an all-star a couple of times as a defensive halfback and a couple more as a cover linebacker. He played in the 1960’s when players played multiple positions and the roles were a bit different. He had 34 ints. so his role seemed to be more in pass coverage, so any thoughts about including him in the halfback category?

I have added Paul Brule to this list as an option and place his bio along with the others for your consideration, and I appear to have screwed up the closing date of the poll and can't seem to edit it now, so if you still want to vote, just reply in the thread with your 2 choices. I'll work out the kinks of this endeavour soon enough.

Thanks for this. Fun fact, Dr. Casey graduated in the same medical class as my father at the U of M. I will add him.

I think I’ve already said I will pull Heath from the list. As I said in an earlier post, I have seen Brule listed as a safety on a Bomber alumni site, so I was going to include him in the safety list. Positions for older players can be tricky to determine, so apologies if I am representing players in the wrong spots.

No that’s all fair comment. I did not fully consider how much of his munbers came as an Argo in his first all-star season, so I can pull him from the voting list. But he could get bonus points for being part of one of the better trades the Bombers pulled off in recent memory (Heath,what would become a first overall draft pick in 2017, and what would become Daniel Petermann in the next draft all for Drew Willy).

My favourite random fact about Shaw was that he had the coolest fan section ever at the old Winnipeg Stadium: “Dave’s Disciples”, who sat in row 1 in Swction A (goal line to the 10 yard line in the south west corner).

My initial examination of nominees largely looked at any all-star nominations they received, as a compatible to their peers over that time frame, so as to provide context for players over different eras. When I got to Heath I saw 2 Divisional and 2 CFL all-star noms in 2 seasons, something that was as good as or better than most other nominees, so I just threw him on the list. Granted his first year here was midway through and a chunk of his stats came with the Argos, but 12 into over 2 seasons was better than any other CFL player over that time. But I certainly don’t see him as a strong candidate overall, just floating a list of those to debate and consider, before I post a final list. If there are more deserving players I have omitted, by all means name names and i’ll put them up for consideration.

Jefferson and Shaw were cornerbacks and are nominees on that list. Strong was also a cornerback, and I explained my reason for excluding him on the initial thread.

Initial list to consider and debate (alphabetical order), which may be added to or shrunk by voting time: Juran Bolden, Bobby Evans, Ken Hailey, TJ Heath, Jonathan Hefney, Brian Herosian, Harold Nash Jr., Vince Phason, Ernie Pitts, Kenny Ploen, Darryl Sampson, Richard (censor won't let me say D-I-C-K) Thornton (some say he is a safety, but one club site listed him as a defensive halfback, will go with him here) Note that Gord Rowland played multiple positions, but was described as a "cover linebacker", so I will opt to put him in the outside linebacker category later unless there are any objections. Debate these choices for inclusion, or add your own nominee. Nominations will end next Friday and the voting list will go up.

Ken Ploen will appear in the "halfback" nominees list, upcoming shortly.

Note that you can vote for multiple options at one time in this poll, so please vote for 2 here.

Choose 2 from the following list of bios: Roy Bennett – 51 games in 3 seasons (1985-87), 26 Int., 455 yards, 2 TDs (long 101 yds.), led CFL with 13 Int. in 1987, divisional and CFL all-star in 1986 and 1987, Bomber rookie of the year nominee in 1985, 2 career fumble recoveries, 67 tackles in 1987 Less Browne – 51 games in 3 seasons (1989-91), 27 Int., 571 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble recovery, 112 tackles, holds club record with 14 Int. in 1990, set CFL record (since broken) with 273 yards in Int. returns in 1990, divisional and CFL all-star in 1990 and 1991, 1990 Grey Cup champion, CFL Hall of Fame. Paul Brule - 63 games in 4 seasons (1968-71), 14 Int., 238 yards, 1970 divisional all-star, led club with 9 Int. in 1970 Rod Hill – 90 games in 5 seasons (1988-92), all-time club leader with 47 Int., 482 yards and 2 TDs, 190 tackles, 5 fumble recoveries for 82 yards and 1 TD, divisional all star in 1989, 1990, and 1992, CFL all-star in 1989 and 1990, played in 3 Grey Cups and won 2, never had less than 7 Ints. In any season, set CFL record with 5 Int. in 1 game James Jefferson – 49 games in 3 seasons (1986-88), 12 Int., 193 yards, 2 TDs, 105 tackles in final 2 years, 4 fumble recoveries for 1 TD, divisional all-star 1987 and 1988, CFL all-star 1987, set CFL record with 4 TDs by a defensive player in 1 game, 1988 Grey Cup champion Jovon Johnson – 107 games in 6 seasons (2008-13), 23 Int., 510 yards, 6 TDs, 370 tackles, 8 fumble recoveries, 1 TD, divisional all-star 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, CFL all-star 2009 and 2011, team nominee for outstanding player in 2009 and 2011, team nominee for outstanding defensive player in 2011, CFL outstanding defensive player in 2011 (first and so far only defensive back to ever win the award), led CFL in Int. with 8 in 2011, led CFL in fumble recoveries with 5 in 2012 Reggie Pierson – 91 games in 6 seasons (1978-83), 27 Int., 439 yards, 4 fumble recoveries David Shaw – 52 games in 4 seasons, 13 Int., 360 yards, 3TDs, 1 sack, set club record (since broken) with 108 yard Int. return in 1985, divisional all-star 1983, 1984, and 1985, CFL all-star 1984, 1984 Grey Cup champion

On a club website they list him as a halfback during his exceptional 2001 season, so I will defer to that source, but he was a true "rover" who would play whatever position the opposing team's best receiver was at, and he was a true "shutdown" DB because teams actively avoided throwing to him because he was a threat to pick off every pass. He "only" had 6 ints. that year, because teams only threw in his direction maybe once a game at most. Thanks for you input - he will be featured in the "halfback" nominees for sure.

Bennett will get listed. I show Rowland as a Linebacker/running back, so he won't be on this list. Paul Brule was listed as a free safety (although he makes mention of being converted to a cornerback in an interview) so I will consider him in the "safety" category (as I will for Thornton, as I indicated earlier). Paul Williams had his greatest success with Saskatchewan (his 2 all-star nods came while playing for the Roughies) so I will exclude him due to little info on his Winnipeg contributions. Doug Strong played 5 years and had 15 total Ints., with zero team award nominations, divisional or CFL all-star nods, so in my humble opinion he falls short of the "all-time great" nominees. But I thank you for bringing each case to my attention. Furthermore, if anyone feels I have omitted a player in the final "voting" thread (coming soon!) I invite you make a case for them for inclusion in your own response. Glad to see people invested in this exercise.

Overruling myself, I have seen places where Bolden was listed as a halfback, so I will consider him for that position instead. of at cornerback, so he will not appear on this week's list of nominees.

I will try to reflect that in the bios. Hopefully listing divisional and CFL all-star nods will reflect how they stacked up against their peers at that time.

One final thing, the nomination and bio will only consider the player's time with the Blue Bombers, so for example someone like Geroy Simon may be excluded despite a great career if the bulk of his accomplishments come with another club.

I will throw out a bunch of names for nomination at the start, and then wait for other suggestions. I will then put out a formal poll on a Friday and people have one week to vote from that list. I will try to give a brief bio of each candidate so people can analyze the options. So tomorrow I will actually put out a list of candidates to vote on, and people will have until next Friday to vote. At the same time as the voting list comes out, I will post the next list of candidates for the another post for nominations for the next category. Debate and discussion can take place on the "nomination" post over the course of the week, and then a formal voting list will occur the next Friday. So one week to nominate and discuss, one week to vote. I will keep those posts separate, so the voting post can be just for voting, to keep things clean. If I find that the voting happens quickly, I will shorten the voting timeline to expedite things (maybe have nominations and discussion from Monday to Friday, and voting from Friday to Sunday - I'll play it by ear as we go along).

No jumping ahead!

Bolden usually covered the opposition’s best receiver so he was interchangeable, but he was listed as a corner, so I will stick with him in that spot.