Bobby Singh (born November 21, 1975) is a retired professional American and Canadian football

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. He was drafted by the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

in the first round of the

1999 CFL Draft The 1999 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, April 13, 1999. 46 Canadian football players were chosen from eligible players from Canadian universities as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Of the 46 draft selections, 28 players were drafte ...

. Singh has the distinction of being the only player in football history to have won an

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Championship, a

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, and a

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 ...

Early years

Singh was born in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

to parents Malkit and Mindy who are of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent. The family moved to

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

when Bobby was two years old. He attended Garden City Elementary School, Palmer Junior Secondary School, and Richmond Senior Secondary School. Throughout his school years, he was active in sports, including

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

College career

After graduating from R.C. Palmer Secondary, he earned a full football scholarship to the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. He played sparingly in 1995, but in 1996 started eleven games for the

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and was named an all- WAC Conference Academic. He transferred to

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

in 1997, where he was named first-team All- Big Sky in his junior year, and All-American/All-Conference/Scholar Athlete of the Year in his senior year. He was a team captain for both his years at Portland State. He graduated with a degree in

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Professional career

Singh was drafted in the first round, eighth overall by the Calgary Stampeders in the 1999 Canadian College Draft. He signed as a

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with the

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, winning a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...

while on the Rams'

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. He underwent back surgery, was released after the season, and spent the 2000 season recovering. In 2001, he signed with the

Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the ...

of the

, playing in six regular season and two playoff games, and winning that league's first and only championship, the

Million Dollar Game The Million Dollar Game, also known as the (2001 or 1st) XFL Championship, was the lone championship of the original 2001 incarnation of the XFL. The game was played on Saturday, April 21, 2001 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Western Div ...

. He then signed with the

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, but was released at the end of

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. In 2002, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, becoming a starter by the fifth game of the season and playing in sixteen regular season games. After a strong season with Stampeders in 2003, he was named as a finalist for the CFL's Outstanding Canadian Award and

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 ...

. Singh signed with the BC Lions in March 2004. During the 2004 season, he missed five games due to a

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injury. He started all but two games of the 2005 season, including the Scotiabank West Championship (the

CFL West Division The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...

final), which the Lions lost to the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

by the score of 28-23. Singh was the only member of a troubled Lions'

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—the team gave up a league-worst 74 sacks—who did not allow a sack, and was the Lions' 2005 nomination for Outstanding Lineman. In March 2006, Singh signed a four-year contract with the BC Lions. Singh dressed for twelve games in

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, as well as the West Division final and

, which the Lions won over the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

25-14, but missed six games due to injury and was used sparingly late in the season. He was released by the Lions on April 5, 2007. Lions head coach and general manager

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 ...

called it a "difficult decision" necessitated by the CFL's new

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, though Singh had offered to take a pay cut. Within a week, Singh had signed with his original CFL team, the Calgary Stampeders. Though he had entertained offers from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, Calgary's proximity to Vancouver was a factor in his decision to sign with the Stampeders, and would allow him to fulfill his duties as school trustee. He was released by Calgary just prior to the

2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 51st season for the Canadian Football League. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup ...

, and was signed by Winnipeg on Sept. 18, 2008. He was released by the Bombers on May 15, 2009. Singh re-signed with the BC Lions on June 25, 2009.

Personal life

Singh is involved in a variety of volunteer and community work in the

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 ...

area, such as youth football programmes and the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

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. In November 2005, he was elected to the Richmond School Board, taking the seventh and final School Trustee position with 9152 votes. He also started a security company, Xtreme Security Ltd., during the 2005-2006 off-season.

Awards and honors

winner (as a member of the St. Louis Rams) *XFL Million Dollar Game winner (as a member of the Los Angeles Xtreme) *2006

winner (as a member of the BC Lions)

References

External links

Bobby Singh
at CFL.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Bobby 1975 births Living people People from Richmond, British Columbia Fijian people of Indian descent Fijian emigrants to the United States Sportspeople of Indian descent Fijian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Indo-Fijian descent Canadian expatriate American football people in the United States Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian players of American football Players of Canadian football from British Columbia American football offensive linemen Portland State Vikings football players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players St. Louis Rams players Los Angeles Xtreme players Calgary Stampeders players BC Lions players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players American people of Indo-Fijian descent