The Canadian Press
Dan Ralph
WINNIPEG—Henry Burris and the Ottawa Redblacks dominated the CFL awards banquet last night.
The 40-year-old quarterback was named the CFL’s outstanding player for the second time in his 16-year career and received the Tom Pate award for community service.
Burris also shared the spotlight at the Club Regent Casino with Ottawa coach Rick Campbell (coach of the year), receiver Brad Sinopoli (top Canadian), and offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers.
Campbell’s father, Hugh, was coach-of-the-year in 1979 with Edmonton, making the Campbells the first father-son winners in CFL history.
On Sunday, Burris and Co. face the Edmonton Eskimos in the Grey Cup game.
Voting for the awards was conducted by 75 members of the Football Reporters of Canada.
The other winners included B.C. Lions’ linebacker Adam Bighill (defensive player), Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ kick returner Brandon Banks (special teams) and Edmonton Eskimos’ receiver Derel Walker (rookie).
Bernie Custis, 87, who in 1951 became pro football’s first black starting quarterback with Hamilton, received the Commissioner’s award while Montreal Alouettes’ tackle Jeff Perrett claimed the Jack Gaudaur Veterans’ trophy.
Burris posted a CFL-record 481 completions this season and led the league in passing with 5,703 yards in collecting his second career outstanding player award.
He won his first in 2010 with Calgary.
Burris also helped Ottawa (12-6) engineer an amazing turnaround—finishing atop the East Division after winning just two games in its inaugural 2-14 campaign.
This season, Burris had twice as many TD passes (26) as interceptions after throwing more picks (14) than touchdowns (11) last year.
Quaterback Bo Levi Mitchell of the Calgary Stampeders was the other finalist.
The 2014 Grey Cup MVP completed 65.6 percent of his passes and finished second to Burris in passing yards (4,551).
Sinopoli, from Peterborough, Ont., captured the top Canadian award ahead of defensive end Jamaal Westerman of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Sinopoli, a former Hec Crighton Trophy-winning quarterback at the University of Ottawa, was the CFL’s top Canadian receiver with 1,035 yards on 86 receptions.
He also had a league-high 471 yards after the catch in his first season with the Redblacks.
The 6’4”, 319-pound Rogers, meanwhile, was a key off-season pick-up for Ottawa—starting all 18 games at left tackle protecting Burris’ blind side.
Jovan Olafioye of B.C., the 2012 award winner, was the other finalist.
Chris Jones was the other coach-of-the-year finalist after Edmonton finished tied with Calgary for the league’s best mark of 14-4, but secured top spot in the West after winning the season series.
Bighill became the second-straight Lion to be named top defensive player after teammate Solomon Elimimian won it last year, as well as the CFL’s outstanding player nod.
Bighill recorded a CFL- and career-high 117 tackles this season while adding four sacks, an interception, and fumble recovery.
