Neal Beaumont (born 1941) is a former award winning and

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

champion

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and punter who played 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 ...

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 ...

from 1960 to 1967. A native of Vancouver, Beaumont earned a starting defensive halfback position with the Lions when he was 19 in 1960 and, along with 53 punt returns for 226 yards, was the winner of the

Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy The Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy is a Canadian Football League award, given to the most outstanding Canadian player in the West Division. Each team nominates a player for this award, from which the winner is chosen. Either the winner of this trophy ...

for Canadian rookie of the year in the west. This was the first time a BC Lion had won an individual CFL player award. He would go on to play 8 seasons, intercepting 22 passes and becoming the team's leading punter(both punts and yards,) He punted 624 times for 25,607 yards. He also has the longest interception return in CFL history, 120 yards for a touchdown, against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

on October 12, 1963. His best season was 1964, when he intercepted 5 passes, was a Western All-Star Defensive Halfback, had the best punting average in the Western Conference, 42.1 on 90 punts, led the team in kickoff returns with 19 and also returned 51 punts and added a final interception in the Lions first ever

victory. "The nickname CRUSHER derives from Beaumont's cannibalistic tackling tendencies, which we try not to discourage" - In total he played 123 regular season games for the Lions. He was elected to the ''BC Lions Wall of Fame'' in 2003.BC Lions 2009 Media Guide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Neal 1941 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Canadian football people from Vancouver