The Commissioner's Award is presented annually by the Commissioner of 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 ci ...

to an individual or individuals who have demonstrated dedication and made a significant contribution to Canadian Football. The award was first introduced in the 1990 CFL season.

Award winners

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

- Jeff Harbin, CFL official for 22 years. *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

- Nurse Sara May, Hamilton-area nurse in honour of her work during

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. * 2019 - Jim Lawson, chairman of the CFL’s Board of Governors * 2018 -

Pierre Vercheval Pierre Vercheval (born November 22, 1964) is a former all star offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. Vercheval played his university football at the University of Western Ontario, where he won the J. P. Metras Trophy top lineman in ...

* 2017 - Rick Sowieta, former Ottawa Rough Rider * 2016 - Jason Colero - Toronto Argonauts Director of Education & Community Programs * 2015 -

Bernie Custis Bernard Eugene Custis (September 23, 1928 – February 23, 2017) was an American and Canadian football player who went on to a distinguished coaching career. He is known for having been the first black professional quarterback in the modern era ...

, CFL's first Black Quarterback * 2014 - Ottawa Redblack Ownership Group *

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 fact ...

- Dwayne Mandrusiak, Edmonton Eskimos Equipment Manager *

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 ...

- Every Player in the CFL *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

- Larry Reda, BC Amateur Football *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

- Ridernation, All the fans of Saskatchewan Roughriders * 2009 -

Wally Buono Pasquale "Wally" Buono (born February 7, 1950) is the vice president of football operations, alternate governor and the former head coach of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one of the most successful head coaches in leag ...

, Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions GM and Coach * 2008 -

Ron Lancaster Ronald Lancaster (October 14, 1938 – September 18, 2008) was an American-Canadian professional football player and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 16 seasons, he ...

, Outstanding career with several CFL teams as player, Coach, CBC broadcaster * 2007 -

Keith Pelley Keith W. Pelley (born 1964) is a sports executive who is the CEO of the PGA European Tour. He has been the president of Rogers Media, team president of the Toronto Argonauts and the president of The Sports Network (TSN). Biography Early life Pe ...

, Toronto Argonauts *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

- Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ghosts * 2005 - Water Boys, Vancouver * 2004 -

Russ Jackson Russell Stanley Jackson (born July 28, 1936) is a former professional Canadian football player. Jackson spent his entire 12-year professional football career with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a member of t ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders Hall of Fame Quarterback * 2003 - TSN, Toronto * 2002 -

Hugh Campbell Hugh Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is a former American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different professional gridiron football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Unit ...

, Long time Edmonton Eskimos Coach/GM/CEO & President * 2001 -

Robert Wetenhall Robert Carl "Bob" Wetenhall Sr. (February 14, 1935 – September 3, 2021) was an American businessman who owned the Montreal Alouettes Football Club of the Canadian Football League from 1997 through 2018. Biography Robert (Bob) Wetenhall was ...

and Larry Smith, Montreal Alouettes owners *

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 ...

- Jeff Gilles, Toronto Argonauts * 1999 - Fausto Bellomino, Toronto * 1998 -

Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the List of governors of North Carolina, 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governo ...

, Toronto writer, radio broadcaster * 1997 - Bolan and Egres * 1996 -

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 ...

, Toronto Argonauts *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Don Wittman Donald Rae Wittman (October 9, 1936 – January 19, 2008) was a Canadian sportscaster. Early life and education Born in Herbert, Saskatchewan, Wittman attended the University of Saskatchewan and got his start in the field of broadcasting a ...

, CBC Broadcaster *

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 Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

- Norm Fieldgate, British Columbia Lions * 1993 -

Reg Wheeler Reg Wheeler (1918-2012) was a Canadian football player who played for the Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats, predecessors to the current Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Wheeler was born in 1918 in Hamilton, Ontario. Wheeler played for the Hamilton Ti ...

Hamilton Wildcats The Hamilton Wildcats were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) from 1941 to 1947, and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) from 1948 to 1949. The team was formed ...

, helped build

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

- Tom Shepherd, Saskatchewan Roughriders * 1991 -

Jack Matheson John Matheson (July 25, 1924 – January 24, 2011) was a Canadian sports journalist known for his wide coverage of sports for the ''Winnipeg Tribune'' from 1946 to 1980. Matheson was born on July 25, 1924, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began his ...

, Winnipeg Tribune sports writer *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

- Greg B. Fulton, played for Calgary, he developed play-by-play summaries and record stats for the CFL, & member of CFL rules committee.

References

{{CFL Canadian Football League trophies and awards