Most Outstanding Canadian 2017

Of the four Nationals (Andrew Harris, Jerome Messam, Brad Sinopoli, and Alex Singleton [considered National by parentage]), Harris is my nominee for Most Outstanding Player, so obviously he would also be my nominee for Most Outstanding Canadian for the same reasons i gave in the Most Outstanding Player Award. Had Anthony Coombs not been injured he would have deserved some consideration as he ranks second in reception yardage (428) to Sinopoli among Canadians, despite being out for a good part of the season.

Singleton is a great player, but if he wins the award as Most Outstanding Canadian we may as well eliminate the award. He's no more Canadian than Ben Cahoon was. Calling them Canadian is an insult to actual Canadians. Call it the Most Outstanding National or make it an award for which only actual Canadians are eligible.

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Originally Posted by paulwoods13

Singleton is a great player, but if he wins the award as Most Outstanding Canadian we may as well eliminate the award. He's no more Canadian than Ben Cahoon was. Calling them Canadian is an insult to actual Canadians. Call it the Most Outstanding National or make it an award for which only actual Canadians are eligible.

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I think Cahoon is much more Canadian than Singleton, since both his parents were from Alberta and he did grow up in Cardston, Alberta for a short period of time. Although did get his football training in the Utah, if you want that to count as "import" status.

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Originally Posted by ArgoGabe22

I think Cahoon is much more Canadian than Singleton, since both his parents were from Alberta and he did grow up in Cardston, Alberta for a short period of time. Although did get his football training in the Utah, if you want that to count as "import" status.

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I don't think Cahoon has Canadian citizenship, I don't think he has ever lived year-round in Canada since he was very young, and I don't think he would ever call himself Canadian. Yet he was named the league's most outstanding Canadian more than once. Makes no sense to me.

I don't think either should qualify as a Canadian. It infuriates me that these guy are ruled as Nationals, yet Boris Bede, who played collegiately at Laval is not.
If there is a loophole for these guys, than any player that played at a Canadian University should automatically get National status in the CFL.

I am not against guys like Singleton or a Cahoon being classified as Canadian, but I believe when the award was started it was for a player born and raised in Canada and from a Canadian University. Maybe that rule should be put in place, or if not just scrap it.

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Originally Posted by doubleblue

I am not against guys like Singleton or a Cahoon being classified as Canadian, but I believe when the award was started it was for a player born and raised in Canada and from a Canadian University. Maybe that rule should be put in place, or if not just scrap it.

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Your qualifications for winning the award include having played for a Canadian university. I hope that is a slip up as quite a few outstanding Canadian born and raised players have won the award without going to a Canadian university, including: Tony Pajackowski, Tommy Grant, Zeno Karcz and Rocky Dipietro, who played Canadian junior football; and Gerry James and Normie Kwong, who came straight from high school in the 1940s and 1950s when this happened to some extent. Even more relevant today is the fact that such a qualification would eliminate one of the top candidates, Andrew Harris, and the Argos own Jermaine Gabriel in the future, who both came from junior football. I would like to see parentage be eliminated as a qualification mechanism. However, at this point under current standards and current performance I would say the race for the award is between Harris and Singleton, with Sinopoli having an outside chance.
I can see both sides of allowing Canadian born and raised players who played their college ball in the United States. If they played some football in Canadian high schools or junior football I would lean towards allowing them to be eligible for the award if I was creating the award's rules.

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Originally Posted by jerrym

Your qualifications for winning the award include having played for a Canadian university. I hope that is a slip up as quite a few outstanding Canadian born and raised players have won the award without going to a Canadian university, including: Tony Pajackowski, Tommy Grant, Zeno Karcz and Rocky Dipietro, who played Canadian junior football; and Gerry James and Normie Kwong, who came straight from high school in the 1940s and 1950s when this happened to some extent. Even more relevant today is the fact that such a qualification would eliminate one of the top candidates, Andrew Harris, and the Argos own Jermaine Gabriel in the future, who both came from junior football. I would like to see parentage be eliminated as a qualification mechanism. However, at this point under current standards and current performance I would say the race for the award is between Harris and Singleton, with Sinopoli having an outside chance.
I can see both sides of allowing Canadian born and raised players who played their college ball in the United States. If they played some football in Canadian high schools or junior football I would lean towards allowing them to be eligible for the award if I was creating the award's rules.

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Yah ok. I should have said junior or right out of high school like Hank Ilesic. But you know what I mean. Real Canadians trained in Canada.

Upon reflection, I would change my recommended qualifications from born in Canada to a Canadian citizen with football experience in Canada to include those who were born elsewhere but came to Canada when young and gained football experience here. By including those who Canadian citizens who were not born in Canada, it would help in diversifying the role models the league presents, which is part of its current diversification campaign. After all, we have one of the highest immigration rates in the world.

I think anyone that played either at the high school (or minor football as there are far less high schools playing football in Canada now) or University level in Canada should be considered a National.

Since my first post on this topic, of the top four Canadians that I mentioned, Brad Sinopoli's injury has reduced whatever limited chance he had of winning to practically zero. During the last four weeks, Jerome Messam has been injured, had a bye week, and gained 11 and then 43 yards. Since players that do not perform well in the season's last month rarely win an award as their name is not refreshed in the voters' memories, Messam chances are also greatly reduced. He is also simply nowhere near the receiver that Harris is, as his lowly 168 yards receiving emphasize.
I think the race is now therefore between Andrew Harris and Alex Singleton.
Despite having gained relatively little rushing or passing yardage last week, Andrew Harris's success in so many areas makes him my favourite to win the award.
He currently is second in rushing with 903 yards, just 48 yards behind Messam. Harris is first among RBs in receiving yardage with 820 yards. None of the other RBs come close to him, with Jeremiah Johnson being closest at 306 yards behind Harris. He is also second in receptions with 96, just three behind SJ Green. The next RB in number of receptions is Johnson, who is a distant second with 61. Furthermore, at his current pace, Harris will end up with 1,016 rushing yards and 923 receiving yards, so he still has a chance to become the CFL's first ever 1,000/1,000 rushing/receiving player, although it is looking increasingly difficult on the receiving front. To show how difficult this 1,000/1,000 accomplishment would be, Robert Drummond of the 1997 Argos was the one who came closest by far to doing this when he gained 1,134 yards rushing and 840 yards receiving.
In addition, Harris' 96 receptions at his current pace would give him 108 receptions at the end of the season, breaking Craig Ellis's record of 106 for a RB. Finally, Harris is also first in hard-fought YAC yards with 656 yards, 206 yards ahead of second place Bakari Grant.
Alex Singleton has done a great job helping the best defence in the league become the least scored upon one and is second in total tackles with 117, as well as having four quarterback sacks and one interception. However, I don't think his performance overall matches Harris. Lastly, some voters, fairly or unfairly, may discount him because he is only classified "National" because his mother was born in Canada.