To the average football fan outside of Canada, the Canadian Football League (CFL) is an unknown entity. Kind of like that cool cousin you don’t get to see much of. So it is that a lot of good football players toil in anonymity north of the 49th parallel. Every once in a while, though, someone busts out. Consider Doug Flutie, who went from known, to relative unknown, back to known. Boston College’s All-American quarterback won the Heisman in 1984 and threw one of the most famous Hail Mary TD passes ever recorded.
However, he was drafted low and bounced from Chicago to New England before signing with the BC Lions in 1990. Flutie was lights out in the CFL, winning a Grey Cup with Calgary and two with Toronto, before heading back to the NFL with Buffalo in 1998. He earned Comeback Player of the Year and a Pro Bowl nod that year and went on to play seven more seasons before retiring.
Link to original story in Sportsbreak.com.
#10 – Jeff Garcia
After a decent college career at San Jose State University, Garcia went undrafted in the NFL. Garcia headed north in 1994 to Calgary, where he backed up Doug Flutie for a season. He ended up replacing the injured star in 1995, only to watch as Flutie led the team to a Grey Cup loss later. Flutie left for Toronto and Garcia fashioned three outstanding years as the Stamps’ pivot, eventually winning the Grey Cup in 1998 and being named game MVP. Signed by San Francisco in 1999, Garcia again backed up a legend in Steve Young, only to take over after Young suffered a career ending concussion. Garcia put in three pretty good seasons with the 49ers and was named to four Pro Bowls for his entire career.
#9 – Lex Luger
Little wonder that Luger changed his name from Larry Pfohl. For a while though the wrestling legend toiled under his vanilla moniker as a member of the Montreal Alouettes from 1979 to 1981. He actually cut his chops for mayhem by getting kicked off the University of Miami football team for trashing his hotel room. Pfohl did play in the 1979 Grey Cup, which was a 17-9 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. Two years later, he signed with Green Bay, but never played a game. He wrapped up his football career with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL. As Lex Luger, he was a three-time champion, holding the WCW heavyweight title twice and the WWA title once. He also won the 1994 WWF Royal Rumble with Bret Hart.
#8 – Eric Crouch
It isn’t often that a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback doesn’t at least play one down behind center after being drafted to the NFL. Consider Crouch an anomaly. After an outstanding career at Nebraska and a further nod as the nation’s top QB, Crouch was drafted in the 3rd round by St. Louis in 2002, as a receiver. Injuries forced him to the sidelines and he never got in a game. In 2006, the Toronto Argonauts took a flyer and signed him. He was fourth on the depth chart, so getting a start seemed unlikely. But, lo and behold, the third stringer went down and Crouch got in a game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It would be his CFL legacy that he threw a 94-yard TD to Arland Bruce III to clinch the win.
# 7 – Andre Rison
‘Bad Moon’ Rison, is one of few players to have won both a Super Bowl and a Grey Cup. His career in the CFL was unremarkable, other than his hyped signing by Toronto in 2004. The five-time NFL Pro Bowler was lured out of retirement by the Argos in August 2004, having last played for the Oakland Raiders in 2000. But, the guy who had over 10,000 yards receiving in the big league, mustered only 174 yards on 14 catches in six games. He was released after only one catch, and one game, in 2005. His best years in the NFL were with Atlanta, where he topped 80 catches in five seasons and tallied over 1,000 yards four out of five. He won the Super Bowl with Green Bay in 1996.
#6 – Warren Moon
Despite the fact he is a member of both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Moon’s ascent to superstardom was anything but rosy. Undrafted out of the University of Washington, Moon hopped the 49th and started a brief, but wildly successful career with the Edmonton Eskimos. He helped Edmonton win five consecutive Grey Cups while becoming the first quarterback in any league to throw for 5,000 yards (1982). He signed with the Houston Oilers in 1984 and with a minor hiccup his first season, picked right up where he left off and played another 17 seasons, leading in passing yards and completions twice. He once held the all-time records for pro passing yards, completions and touchdowns.
#5 – Andre Ware
Houston Texans. Although, after a stellar collegiate career and a Heisman with the University of Houston in 1989, his path to glory seemed confirmed. The first African-American QB to win the award, Ware was a master of the run and shoot offence and was picked by the Detroit Lions in the first round of 1990 draft. He would languish on the sidelines with Detroit for four seasons, starting just six games. By 1995, he was a high-profile signing by Ottawa, where he set personal pro marks for completions in a season (70) and yards (759). He lasted one season in Ottawa before joining BC in 1996 and finishing up with a lacklustre year in Toronto in 1997.
#4 – Cameron Wake
Considering how far they have fallen since winning the Super Bowl in 2012, the New York Giants might want a do-over on Wake. Signed as an undrafted free agent linebacker out of Penn State in April 2005, he was cut two months later. He signed with the BC Lions in 2007, switched to defensive end and became an instant star. He went on to lead the CFL in sacks for two seasons and was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2008. This led to a bidding war for his services, with Miami winning the sweepstakes in 2009. Since then, Wake has been a beast at linebacker and defensive end, racking up 51.5 sacks in 62 games. He has been to three Pro Bowls and was a First Team All-Pro in 2012.
#3 – Jesse Palmer
Technically, Palmer didn’t play in the CFL, but his story sure is juicy. While he was only a member of the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Renegades practice squads, Ottawa native Palmer did start three games for the New York Giants in 2003 after a decent career at the University of Florida. He created a stir in the CFL when his agent asked for a three-year, $2 million contract to sign with Ottawa, which was deemed too rich for the frugal CFL. Palmer never hit his stride as a quarterback, but the pretty boy hit pay dirt as ‘The Bachelor’, which has turned into a lucrative broadcasting career. He forms a team with Brent Musburger on the SEC Network after many years with ESPN and Canada’s TSN.
2 – Ricky Williams
He was a star in the NFL, but Williams may be forever known as the player who failed the most drug tests. Ricky couldn’t stay away from the marijuana, and “retired” from football in 2004 after three positive tests. He came back in 2005 and eventually earned another suspension for the entire 2006 season. The oddball Heisman Trophy winner, who led the NFL in rushing in 2002, ended up signing a lucrative-by-CFL-standards contract with Toronto that same season. Panned by Joe Theismann as a bad signing for such “an addict”, Ricky put bums in the seats, but was far from being dominant, gaining 526 yards in 11 games. He departed Toronto after one season and spent five more average seasons in the NFL with Miami (again) and Baltimore.
#1 – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
One would have to dig deep to find anything on a Dwayne Johnson playing for the Calgary Stampeders in 1995. But yes, indeed, The Rock was a member of the Stamps for about two months after a career at the University of Miami. What’s even lesser known is that The Rock is also Canadian, by virtue of his wrestling father Rocky Johnson, who was born in Amherst, N.S. His career was short-lived, but Johnson is easily the most well-known alum the league has ever known. As a wrestler, The Rock is without peer, having 17 championship reigns in the WWE. Where he is truly making his mark, however, is in Hollywood where according to IMDB he has 82 acting credits. If you haven’t seen him in “Pain and Gain”, do so.