Troy Westwood (born March 21, 1967) 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 ...
place kicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter.
Speci ...
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 ...
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 ...
. He was drafted 48th overall in the 6th round of the 1991 CFL Draft by the Blue Bombers and holds several club records, including most points scored in a career (2748) and most points scored in a single season (213).
Early life
Westwood was born in
Dauphin, Manitoba
Dauphin () is a city in Manitoba, Canada, with a population of 8,457 as of the 2016 Canadian Census, with an additional 2,388 living in the surrounding Rural Municipality of Dauphin (RM), for a total of 10,845 in the RM and city combined. The ci ...
and raised in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
. He attended
Augustana University
Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives ...
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and graduated in 1991. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for the Augustana College Vikings and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2011. Westwood was a gifted youth soccer player, playing for the Manitoba provincial soccer team and invited to a camp for the U18 national team. He was drafted by the
Winnipeg Fury
The Winnipeg Fury were a professional soccer team in Winnipeg, Canada. The team was part of the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. In 1993, they played in the Canadia ...
of the
Canadian Soccer League
The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...
.
Professional career
Westwood was selected by the Bombers in the
1991 season
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...
, when he was selected 48th overall in the 6th round of the
Canadian College Draft
The CFL Draft (also known as the CFL Canadian Draft, CFL College Draft or the Canadian College Draft) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from t ...
. Westwood was also known for his mullet, which he reportedly vowed not to cut until he wins 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 ...
. He decided to grow it out after the 2001 Grey Cup loss to
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, in which he missed three out of four field goal attempts. In a radio interview, he publicly denied this claim and attributed his hair to his spirituality, and resents the notion that his hair has anything to do with football. This poor performance capped off what was Westwood's worst season statistically as he only converted on 60.8% of his field goal attempts that year.
After a disappointing start to the 2007 season against Edmonton, Westwood was told by Bomber coach Doug Berry not to dress for the second game of the season against Montreal. After replacement Rob Pikula went 1/2 in field goals, Westwood was reinstated as the Bomber's place kicker by the third game of the season. In the 7th game of the season however, Westwood sustained a hamstring injury and his future with the club was again in doubt. However, after injuries to Pikula and newly signed Pat Fleming, Westwood was called upon for kicking and punting duties in the Eastern Semi-Final where he went 1/2, kicking the game-winning field goal from 20 yards out with no time left on the clock.
Westwood was cut by the Bombers during training camp on June 15, 2008.
Westwood was re-signed by the Blue Bombers on Oct 19, 2009 to their practice roster following an injury to starting punter
Mike Renaud
Mike Renaud (born May 25, 1983) is a former professional Canadian football punter for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He was signed by the Montreal Alouettes as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played CIS Football a ...
and struggles by place kicker
Alexis Serna
Alexis Serna (born February 8, 1985) is a former placekicker and punter who played in the Canadian Football League from 2008 to 2010 for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He graduated from A. B. Miller High School in Fontana, California. He was the s ...
to pull double duty. On April, 2010, Westwood was released by the Blue Bombers.
He is known for stirring things up off-field: he has tried his hand at professional
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
and
tap dancing
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
Ed Philion
Edmond Paul Philion (born March 27, 1970) is the former defensive line coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. A former Canadian Football League defensive tackle who played eight seasons for the Montreal Alouettes, he won the 90th Grey Cup in 200 ...
. He is arguably most known for his tongue-in-cheek insult of the rival
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 ...
' fans by calling them "
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
-pickin' inbreds." He later followed that up with a faux apology, saying he did not think anyone in Saskatchewan was actually capable of playing a banjo. These quotes inspired the
Banjo Bowl
The Banjo Bowl is the annual rematch game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) after the Labour Day Classic. While the traditional Labour Day Classic game is always played on the ...
.
Career stats
Regular season
Music
Westwood, who was exposed to
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
culture growing up in Dauphin, has also recorded several albums inspired by First Nations music, both in the band
Eagle & Hawk
Eagle & Hawk is a Canadian First Nations rock group based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, active since 1994. They are most noted for winning the Juno Award for Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording in 2002 for their album ''On and On''. The band had ...
Unreserved
''Unreserved'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs weekly on CBC Radio One.
'', January 22, 2017.
Broadcasting
After retiring from football, Westwood was an on-air host for
CFQX-FM
CFQX-FM (104.1 MHz) is a country radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Owned by Jim Pattison Group, the station currently operates out of studios at 177 Lombard Avenue in downtown Winnipeg. CFQX's transmitter is located in the Rural Municipality of ...
in Winnipeg from March 2009 to March 2011. He was a morning host on
CFRW
CFRW (1290 AM) is a radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Owned by Bell Media, it is co-located with its sister stations CKMM-FM and CFWM-FM on 1445 Pembina Highway. Its transmitter is located near Oak Bluff along Road 54 off McGillivra ...