Cahoon gets a spot in CFL Hall of Fame
You never know when it comes to these things, when it’s put to a vote by a committee. After all Damon Allen, one of the Canadian Football League’s greatest quarterbacks, didn’t make it his first year of eligibility. So anything’s possible.
Ben Cahoon won’t suffer a similar indignity.
Three years after retiring as one of the Alouettes’ greatest receivers, the reliable but undersized slotback has learned he’ll be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2014. The news was made official Friday night in Regina, during Grey Cup week festivities.
Cahoon received a call earlier this month from CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, notifying him of the honour. Cahoon, who displayed little emotion on the field over 12 seasons with the Als, was overwhelmed.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Cahoon told The Gazette from his Regina hotel room. “I got chills and misty-eyed — and my nose started to tingle. I hadn’t thought much about that or what it might feel like. Just hearing those words it was, like, magical.
“I had no idea it was just three years. It was a total shock.”
Cahoon is among seven members of the 2014 induc- tion class — a group that has a distinct Montreal flavour to it. Don’t be surprised if the Als stage next season’s Hall of Fame dinner in proximity to a Molson Stadium home game. Finding sponsorship will be one of chief executive officer Mark Weightman’s mandates this winter, once the regular-schedule’s released.
Cahoon will be joined by offensive-tackle Uzooma Okeke along with British Columbia general manager Wally Buono. Buono’s inducted in the builder’s category.
Okeke, now the Als’ assistant director of pro and college scouting, spent 13 seasons with Shreveport, Ottawa and Montreal, including the final decade of his career with the Als before retiring in 2006. He was named the league’s outstanding lineman in 1999 and was a seven-time CFL all-star.
“It means a great deal. You work hard and get the opportunity to play with a lot of great players,” Okeke said from his off-season home in Dallas. “To get recognized for your efforts is really great. I’m very surprised and honoured.
“Offensive linemen always have been the unsung heroes, relished in that type of environment,” he added. “We never chased the independent glory and always have been team-oriented.”
Buono played linebacker and punter for the Als from 1972-81, then took an assistant coaching job with the Montreal Concordes in 1983 before joining Calgary in 1987. He was head coach and GM with both the Stampeders and Lions, and has more victories than any CFL coach.
The trio are joined by Ottawa offensive-tackle Moe Racine, Winnipeg runningback Charles Roberts, former university head coach Larry Haylor (builder), and running-back Neil Lumsden, who enters based on his collegiate record at the University of Ottawa. Lumsden played professionally with Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton.
Cahoon holds many team records, including 13,301 career receiving yards, 1,017 catches and 112 receptions in 2003, a mark equalled by Jamel Richardson in 2011. Cahoon caught at least one pass in 216 consecutive games. Cahoon also had 65 touchdowns and 32 games of at least 100 yards, both Als records.
He was named the league’s outstanding Canadian in 2002 and ’03 and was named the Grey Cup game’s outstanding Canadian in 2003 and ’09. The Als lost to Edmonton in ’03.
Only 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, he was selected in the first round (sixth overall) by Montreal in 1998, turning pro with the Als that season after attending mini-camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cahoon was named a league all-star three times and won three championships.
Although born in Orem, Utah, Cahoon’s parents are Canadian and he spent the first eight years of his life living in Canada, mostly in Alberta, although he was a Beaconsfield resident for about 18 months.
Cahoon remains the alltime leading receiver in Grey Cup history, having caught 46 passes for 658 yards.
“He always performed great in the Grey Cup,” said Als GM and head coach Jim Popp. “He was a prime-time player. When it was on the line, you could count on Ben Cahoon.
“He defied a lot of odds and proved a lot of people wrong. This guy was different than most.”
Cahoon, now 41, entered the league as a wide-receiver, not being moved to slotback until 2002, under Don Matthews. Playing the weak-side, he became one of quarterback Anthony Calvillo’s favourite targets, seemingly always making the catch.
“He never dropped one ball at training camp his rookie year,” Popp remembered. “The biggest thing that probably stood out was his signature stuff — his route running and ability to catch the football. Somewhere along the way he was coached very well. He was technically sound on how to run a route and catch a ball.”
The Als have had a long line of great offensive linemen, but Okeke played the all-important left-tackle position. And Popp said Okeke was the best he’s seen at that spot.
“A good athlete, very powerful, could both run and pass protect,” Popp said. “I haven’t seen anybody who could stick that punch and jab you right in the chest. He could stop any sized man in his place.
“He’s one of the elite players to have played in that position in my career. And I still think he was at the top.”