Sam Cvijanovich is a former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. Cvijanovich was a notable player for the

Cal Lutheran Kingsmen The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen and Regals are the athletic teams that represent California Lutheran University, located in Thousand Oaks, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

during the 1971 NAIA Division II Football National Championship. He has been named “the hardest hitter I’ve ever coached” by head coach Bob Shoup. Nicknamed "Jawbone", Cvijanovich was six foot and 205 lbs. He was later named NAIA District III Player of the Year in both his junior and senior years at Cal Lutheran. He was later drafted to the Canadian Football League after his collegiate career and was selected as the CFL Rookie of the Year in 1974 as a middle linebacker with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. He set a record for interceptions by a linebacker as a rookie and played three seasons for Toronto before being traded to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He ended his 1977 season and retired due to foot injuries.

Early life

Sam Cvijanovich is a graduate of Santa Clara High School in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. While at Santa Clara he played football, basketball, and baseball under his father Lou Cvijanovich, who coached varsity teams in all three sports.

College career

Cvijanovich played college football at California Lutheran College (1970–1972), where he was a second-team all-star in 1970. He was inducted into the Cal Lutheran Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Professional career

Cvijanovich played three years with the

in the CFL (1974–1976), playing 43 games and wearing number 33. In 1974, he won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and t ...

on the strength of his 7 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. He later played for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

, and seven games for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, in 1977.

Personal life

In 1980, Sam Cvijanovich purchased a biker bar in Oxnard with his brother Steve Cvijanovich and reopened it as a sports bar called Sam's Saloon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cvijanovich, Sam Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian football linebackers Ottawa Rough Riders players BC Lions players 1950 births Living people Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Players of American football from Mesa, Arizona Players of Canadian football from Arizona