Tony Champion (born March 19, 1963 in Humboldt, Tennessee) is a former American football and Canadian Football League player.

Early sports career

A multi-sport star, Champion lived up to his name as a football standout at the high school, college and pro level. A 1981

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * ...

grad, he was an all-district player on the Vikings' 1979 undefeated, 13-0 Class AA state champion football team. As a senior, he quarterbacked Humboldt to a 10-1 season and was selected All-West Tenn., 2nd Team All-State and Humboldt Player of the Year. In basketball Champion earned All-District and All-Region as Humboldt finished state runner-up. In track, he placed 4th in state in the 330 yd. low hurdles as a junior and qualified for the state as a senior, but elected to attend graduation instead of competing at the state meet.

Football career

Playing football at the University of Tennessee at Martin (1981–84), Champion was All- Gulf South Conference, had 84 career points and tied a school record with a 100-yard kickoff return. As a junior, he surpassed 1,000 receiving yards and set school records for receptions in a season (39) and most yards single game (181 yards on 3 catches). He was a pre-season All-American before suffering knee injury as a senior. Champion went undrafted in 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 he signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the National Football League, and ended up being cut by all three teams. He was a two time all-star (1986 and 1989) in the Canadian Football League, playing for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

for eight seasons from 1985 to 1992. He had 340 career receptions for 5,498 yards and 37 TD's. In 1989 Champion was runner-up for the

CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award The Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from ...

, Hamilton's Most Valuable Player, winner of the Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy, and set a team season record for touchdowns with 15 on the year. Champion is remembered for his last minute touchdown catch in the 1989 Grey Cup game. With Hamilton trailing in the final minutes, Champion caught a 13-yard

Mike Kerrigan Michael Joseph Kerrigan (born April 27, 1960) is an American former professional gridiron football quarterback. College Kerrigan played high school football at Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago. He was recruited by Yale, Weber State, and Utah, ...

pass deep in the end zone with 44 seconds remaining, tying the game at 40-40. Fully extended, he rolled over in mid-air to grab the ball in both hands and fell flat out on the ground, without dropping the ball. Champion was playing with broken ribs. He won the

74th Grey Cup The 74th Grey Cup was the 1986 Canadian Football League championship game that was played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Edmonton Eskimos. The Tiger-Cats unexpectedly dominated the Eskimos 39–15. Game ...

with the

in 1986.

Professional football record

After football

Champion was somewhat bitter when he left the CFL in 1992. This was evidenced as early as the 1989 Grey Cup game, where in a post game interview he proclaimed: "You've seen the last of Tony Champion." While not correct, this was a manifestation of his belief that he was not fully appreciated or compensated. Although bitter toward the end of his playing career, he eventually made his return to Hamilton more than 20 years after his playing career ended for a Hamilton Tiger-Cats playoff game at Tim Hortons Field, the 2015 East Division Semi-Final. The Tiger-Cats would go on to win that game 25-22.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Tony 1963 births Living people American players of Canadian football Canadian football wide receivers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players People from Humboldt, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee UT Martin Skyhawks football players