The Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award is annually awarded to the best defensive player in the

Canadian football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. The winner of the award is selected by members of the Football Reporters of Canada along with the head coaches in the CFL. The two nominees for the award are the James P. McCaffrey Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Norm Fieldgate Trophy winner from the West Division. Between 1955 and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, both defensive players and offensive lineman had to compete for the CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award. By the 1974 season, the league decided to make two separate awards for both defensive players and offensive lineman.

CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners

* 2022 –

Lorenzo Mauldin Lorenzo Malik Mauldin IV (born October 1, 1992) is a professional gridiron football defensive end for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He ...

(DE), Ottawa Redblacks * 2021 –

Adam Bighill Adam Bighill (born October 16, 1988) is a gridiron football linebacker for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Bighill made his professional debut with the BC Lions in 2011. He played college football for the Cen ...

(LB),

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

– ''season cancelled - covid 19'' *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

- Willie Jefferson (DE),

* 2018 –

(LB),

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

– Alex Singleton (LB),

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

* 2016 – Solomon Elimimian (LB), BC Lions *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

–

(LB), BC Lions *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

– Solomon Elimimian (LB), BC Lions *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

– Chip Cox (LB), Montreal Alouettes *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

– J.C. Sherritt (LB),

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

* 2011 – Jovon Johnson (DB),

* 2010 – Markeith Knowlton (LB),

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

* 2009 – John Chick (DE), Saskatchewan Roughriders *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

–

Cameron Wake Derek Cameron Wake (born January 30, 1982) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker. He played college football for Penn State University, and was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Wake ...

(DE), BC Lions *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

–

(DE), BC Lions * 2006 – Brent Johnson (DE), BC Lions *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

– John Grace (LB),

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

– Anwar Stewart (DE), Montreal Alouettes *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

–

Joe Fleming Joe Fleming (born December 5, 1971) is a former Canadian Football League defensive end. Over his ten years in the CFL he played for three teams and did not play during the 2002 CFL season. Fleming announced his retirement prior to the 2006 CFL f ...

(DT),

* 2002 – Elfrid Payton (DE),

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

–

Joe Montford Joe Montford (born July 30, 1970) is a Canadian and American football defensive end. Montford played with the Shreveport Pirates (4 games in his first year in the CFL), the Toronto Argonauts, the Edmonton Eskimos, the Charlotte Rage of the Arena ...

(DE),

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

–

(DE),

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

– Calvin Tiggle (LB),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

–

(DE),

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

–

Willie Pless Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and sc ...

(LB),

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

–

(LB),

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

–

(LB),

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

–

(LB),

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

– Jearld Baylis (DT), Saskatchewan Roughriders *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

–

(LB),

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

– Greg Battle (LB),

* 1990 – Greg Battle (LB),

* 1989 – Danny Bass (LB),

* 1988 – Grover Covington (DE),

* 1987 – Greg Stumon (DE), BC Lions * 1986 – James "Quick" Parker (DE), BC Lions * 1985 – Tyrone Jones (LB),

* 1984 – James "Quick" Parker (DE), BC Lions * 1983 – Greg Marshall (DE),

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

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

– James "Quick" Parker (LB),

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

– Danny Kepley (LB),

* 1980 – Danny Kepley (LB),

* 1979 – Ben Zambiasi (LB),

* 1978 – Dave "Dr. Death" Fennell (DT),

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

– Danny Kepley (LB),

* 1976 – Bill Baker (DE), BC Lions *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

– Jim Corrigall (DE), Toronto Argonauts *

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

– John Helton (DT),

References

https://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_odef Most Outstanding Defensive Player

CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners

References

See also