Nick Bastaja (born February 4, 1953 in

Grantham, England Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played fourteen seasons 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 ci ...

. He was part of the

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 ...

championship-winning

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 ...

teams of 1984 and 1988. Bastaja won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award is annually awarded to the best offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Leo Dandurand Trophy winner from the East Division, and the DeMarco-Becket Memor ...

in the

1985 CFL season The 1985 CFL season is considered to be the 32nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 28th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1985 The CFL adopted a regular season overtime format that will consist of ...

. After his retirement as a player, Bastaja spent two seasons as a

colour commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

for CFL games on the

Canadian Football Network The Canadian Football Network (CFN) was the official television syndication service of the Canadian Football League from 1987 to 1990. History Background CFN broadcasts mainly aired on stations via the Atlantic Satellite Network and future G ...

References

Career stats and bio
1953 births Living people Sportspeople from Grantham Canadian players of Canadian football English players of Canadian football Canadian football offensive linemen Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Toronto Argonauts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Simon Fraser Red Leafs football players Simon Fraser University alumni Canadian Football League announcers Canadian people of Serbian descent English people of Serbian descent {{Canadianfootball-offensive-lineman-stub