Number 80

CFL All-Stars:

• Janarion Grant (2022)

Division All-Stars:

• Neill Armstrong (1951, 1953)
• Janarion Grant (2022)

CFL Awards:

• Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy (West Division leading scorer) – Buddy Leake, 1956

Blue Bombers Awards:

• Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Special Teams Player — Janarion Grant (2022)

He Wore It Well:

Janarion Grant, KR/WR, 2019-

Grant has made magic in the return game from the very first time he pulled on a Blue Bombers uniform. In his CFL debut, back in July of 2019, Grant returned two punts for touchdowns, finished the game with 306 yards in punt and kickoff returns and set a club record with 222 yards in punt returns.

He was sensational in 2022, a year in which he made history by becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in return touchdowns. Grant had three kick-return  – two on punt returns, a third on a kickoff – to give him seven in his career and allowing him to move past Keith Stokes. Grant then added two more punt-return TDs in the playoffs, one in the Western Final and a Grey Cup record 102-yard score in the loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

Notable:

• Geroy Simon is a future Canadian Football Hall of Famer who began his CFL career with the Bombers and had most of his productive years with the B.C. Lions. After two seasons with the Bombers, Simon headed back south for a shot at the NFL and following his release, Winnipeg’s receiving corps was stacked with Milt Stegall, Robert Gordon and Arland Bruce III. Simon signed with the Lions and, ironically, 11 years later became the CFL’s all-time receiving yardage leader – breaking Stegall’s record – in a game against the Bombers.
• Eric Streater wasn’t a Blue Bomber for too long – he played in 38 games over three years – but he was a productive, though, and often overshadowed piece of the team’s last championship.
  In the 1990 Grey Cup championship season Streater stepped up with both James Murphy and Perry Tuttle battling injuries and led the team with 12 touchdowns in 15 games while pulling in 74 passes for 781 yards. He went 44-707-4 TDs in 1991 and in ’92 pulled in 27 passes for 376 yards and another four TDs in just eight games.

FYI:

Joe Zaleski was a back-up quarterback and defensive back in his days with the Bombers, returning in 1958 to serve as an assistant coach under Bud Grant. He was part of the staff during the team’s four championships in five years from 1958-62, and when Grant left for the Minnesota Vikings in 1967, was named the team’s head coach. The Bombers would struggle in those years, going 10-37-1 before Zaleski was relieved of his duties at the end of the 1969 season… We highlighted the accomplishments of Neil Armstrong at #76  and Buddy Leake at #72.