CFL brings Hall of Famers back to town

While the game already has the power to impact the standings, there’s another reason that the Montreal Alouettes Friday night visit to town is important to Hamilton football and its fans.

It’s the first time the Hall of Fame game will be back in the city in eight years.

The five newest members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame — in the long, delayed, process of moving from its now-closed base beside City Hall to a new home in the north end zone of Tim Hortons Field — will be inducted here Thursday night and will have their commemorative busts unveiled at halftime of the Ticats-Als game.

Oddly, neither the Alouettes nor Tiger-Cats feature in the bios of the inductees.

Defensive lineman Doug Brown spent all of his 10 outspoken CFL years with Winnipeg, linebacker James West had one year with the BC Lions but is best remembered for his brilliant time with Calgary and Winnipeg, defensive lineman Rodney Harding is Toronto’s career sack leader, Derrell “Mookie” Wilson set a CFL record with 160 receptions in 1998 for the Argos, and builder Don McDonald was an executive with both the Saskatoon Hilltops and Football Canada.

Ivor Wynne Stadium was the home of the Hall of Fame Game from 1972 to 2008, when the Hall committee began moving it to different CFL cities. The Hall’s longtime home, beside Hamilton City Hall, has now been closed and the player busts will be moved to a new location attached to the patio in the north end zone of Tim Hortons Field. That was supposed to occur this year but will not happen until 2017.

“The CFL (which now runs the Hall of Fame) and the city are finalizing plans on that now,” says Mark Denobile, the Hall’s executive-director.

On Thursday, the five new inductees will be honoured at a by-invitation-only event in the Champions Club at Tim Hortons Field. They’ll be joined by local politicians, current Hall members and the corporate partners of the CFL, Ticats and Hall of Fame.

The new inductees will receive their Hall of Fame jackets and rings at that event, but their busts will be unveiled at halftime of the Hall of Fame Game Friday night.

Prior to the game, the five new members will join several other Hall of Fame members for a free autograph session in the south plaza of Tim Hortons Field, next to Cannon Street.

Local legends and Hall of Famers Angelo Mosca and Tony Gabriel will be part of the halftime ceremonies.