Greg Battle (born April 14, 1964) is a former

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

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. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He graduated from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He had a tryout with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

but turned north to

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in 1987. He won two CFL Outstanding Defensive player awards in his career, 1990 and 1991, and helped the Blue Bombers to two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) 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 be ...

victories in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

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 ...

. He finished his career third in the CFL for career defensive tackles with 766. He was named one of the All-Time Blue Bomber Greats. As a senior, Battle accumulated 147 tackles and took home Honorable Mention All-America honors from the

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. He was chosen the Eastern Division outstanding defensive player three times (1989, 1990 and 1991) and the CFL’s top defensive player in 1990 and 1991. He was named the Grey Cup's defensive MVP in 1990, when he recorded four tackles and two interceptions, returning one for a 56-yard touchdown in a 50-11 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos. During the game one sports caster jokingly asked if he could nominate Battle for most outstanding offensive player due to his interceptions. During his time in the CFL he was known for his Pass coverage skills, and outstanding speed. Battle also briefly played for the

Las Vegas Posse The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 season as part of the CFL's short-lived American expansion. Lasting only one seaso ...

in 1994 and the

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 ...

in the same season, the

Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. ...

in 1995 and 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 1 ...

in 1996 before returning to the Blue Bombers for his two final seasons. In 2007, Battle was inducted into the

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 ...

References

1964 births Living people Arizona State Sun Devils football players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners Las Vegas Posse players Memphis Mad Dogs players Ottawa Rough Riders players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Players of American football from Long Beach, California Players of Canadian football from Long Beach, California {{Canadianfootball-linebacker-stub