EDMONTON - It took two years, but Henry Burris has his CFL outstanding player award.
The Calgary Stampeders quarterback captured the CFL's top individual honour Thursday at the league's awards banquet. He earned 32 of 60 votes from the Football Reporters of Canada and the league's eight head coaches to nip Anthony Calvillo of the Montreal Alouettes. Calvillo had claimed the trophy the last two years.
But Calvillo will be looking for a bigger prize when he leads the Alouettes into the Grey Cup game against Saskatchewan at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday (TSN, 6 p.m., ET). The Riders upset Burris and the Stampeders -- who posted a league-best 13-5 record -- 20-16 in last weekend's West Division final.
Burris wasn't the only Stampeder honoured as offensive tackle Ben Archibald was named the top lineman. Calgary linebacker Juwan Simpson was a finalist to Hamilton's Markeith Knowlton for top defensive player.
The other winners included Saskatchewan slotback Andy Fantuz (top Canadian), kick-returner Chad Owens of the Toronto Argonauts (special-teams) and B.C. Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian (rookie).
Burris was a finalist to Calvillo for the outstanding player award in 2008 and wasn't happy about it. Afterwards, he was very vocal about feeling he should've earned the honour, although he did finish the season hoisting the Grey Cup after Calgary beat Montreal 22-14 in the final.
The six-foot-two, 219-pound Burris played a major roll in leading Calgary to top spot in the West Division standings. Burris, 35, was third in CFL passing with 4,945 yards and had a league-high 38 touchdown tosses but also threw 20 interceptions, second only to Saskatchewan's Darian Durant (22).
Burris was also a multi-threat quarterback, rushing for 491 yards and three TDs.
Calvillo, 38, led Montreal to top spot in the East Division standings with a 12-6 record this season. Calvillo has also accumulated 68,161 career passing yards, leaving him well within reach of Damon Allen's all-time mark of 72,381 yards amassed over 23 CFL seasons before he retired prior to the 2008 season.
And that's not bad considering when Calvillo joined the Alouettes as Tracy Ham's backup in 1998 after being released by Hamilton he was very unsure about his CFL future.
But this season the six-foot-one, 200-pound Calvillo appeared in 15 games, completing 67.6 per cent of his passes (380-of-562 attempts) for 4,839 yards. He threw 32 TD passes while giving up just seven interceptions and posting a CFL-high quarterback rating of 108.1.
The six-foot-four, 322-pound Archibald captured the top lineman award after being a finalist last year. The third-year Stampeder solidified an offensive line that allowed only 30 sacks (second-lowest in the CFL) and paved the way for a league-best rushing attack that averaged 145.4 yards per game.
The six-foot-two, 291-pound Hage, a native of Beirut who grew up in Montreal anchored a front line that helped protect Kevin Glenn, the CFL's second-leading passer with 5,106 yards.
Knowlton was a versatile performer for Hamilton, registering 71 tackles. He had three sacks, three interceptions, a league-high six fumble recoveries and two blocked punts for a Ticats' squad that posted a 9-9 record and finished second in the East Division standings.
The six-foot-three, 233-pound Simpson helped anchor a Calgary defence that finished first in fewest yards allowed (336 per game) and third in fewest points allowed (25.5 per game). The third-year Stampeder had a team-high 71 tackles and also had seven sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
Fantuz, of Chatham, Ont., enjoyed an outstanding campaign with 87 catches for a career-high 1,380 yards and six touchdowns. He helped quarterback Darian Durant lead the league in passing with 5,542 yards.
Hamilton slotback Dave Stala was the finalist after registering a career-best 85 catches for 1,015 yards and six TDs.
Owens ran away with the special-teams honour after leading the CFL in punt, kickoff, missed field goal returns and all-purpose yards and tied for the league lead in return touchdowns with four. He became just the fifth player in league history to have over 1,000 punt and kick return yards in the same season.
The finalist was B.C.'s Yonus Davis, who had three return TDs this season and league-best 25.5-yard kickoff return average.
The hard-hitting Elimimian had a solid first season with B.C., posting a team-high 78 tackles this season and five sacks.
Hamilton's Marcus Thigpen was the finalist after becoming the first player in CFL history to score a touchdown in five different ways in a season (rush, pass, punt return, kickoff return, missed field goal). What's more, he needed just seven games to accomplish the feat.
