Solomon Elimimian, Bryan Burnham and Ty Long were announced as 2017 CFL Western Division All-Stars on Wednesday morning.
It was another banner year for the 2014 CFL Most Outstanding Player and two-time winner of the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. With an 11-tackle performance in Saturday’s season finale against Toronto, Elimimian finished with 144 defensive stops to break his own single-season record, originally set in 2014.
One of his memorable performances came in week three at Montreal when he set a new career-high with 15 defensive tackles to help the Lions prevail 23-16. That total was one short of former Hamilton Tiger-Cats standout Calvin Tiggle for the all-time single-game record. Once again, Elimimian was the club’s finalist for both league MOP and Outstanding Defensive honours. 2017 marks Elimimian’s fifth division all-star selection.
One of the club’s big breakout players in 2016, Burnham showed similar flashes of brilliance this season, hauling in 81 receptions for 1,202 yards and seven touchdowns, a new career-best. He ended the season fourth overall in CFL receiving yards, trailing only fellow Western All-Star Brandon Zysltra (Edmonton) and a pair of Eastern selections in SJ Green (Toronto) and Greg Ellingson (Ottawa). Burnham also had perhaps the catch of the year in a 41-26 victory in Hamilton on July 15th, hauling in a touchdown pass from Travis Lulay with one hand as he was falling down. This is Burnham’s second consecutive division All-Star nod.
Rookie kicker Long emerged as one of the club’s most pleasant surprises in 2017; finishing as the CFL leader in punting yards (5,556) and was fifth in field goals made (39). Long also made good on 18 straight attempts to finish the season. He was also ‘Mr. Automatic’ from inside the 40-yard line, making 22-of-23 attempts overall. For his efforts, the Alabama-Birmingham was also the team’s finalist for CFL Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
In addition, the CFL announced finalists for the Tom Pate Memorial Award this week. Emmanuel Arceneaux is the BC Lions’ nominee. The Tom Pate Award, handed out by the CFL Players Association, goes to a player who exemplifies outstanding sportsmanship and community service. Marco Iannuzzi won the award last season.