Neil Lumsden’s legendary CIS career leads to him getting called to the Hall of Fame

REGINA—The Canadian Football Hall of Fame added seven new members at a reception Friday night, but only one was recognized for his CIS playing career. That would be renowned University of Ottawa running back, punter and kicker Neil Lumsden, who starred for the Gee-Gees from 1972 to 1975, leading them to a Vanier Cup in his final season and winning the Ted Morris Trophy as the Vanier Cup's MVP that year. Lumsden had an excellent CFL career as well, playing for Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton from 1976 to 1985, but it's his amateur accomplishments that really stand out, and they saw him enter the Hall under a 2010 rule change that's led to the induction of one CIS or CJFL player each year since. Lumsden said Friday he loved being recognized for his CIS career, as the memories he has from that team are still very special to him.

"You talk about what we had together, great pride," he said. "I still see a lot of those guys, I played with a lot of them in my CFL career and we were always referencing that. It was a very tight-knit group of guys. Our coach Don Gilbert was phenomenal in our development as players. I think from that Vanier Cup team we had 18, 19 guys go to the CFL. What we were doing was something pretty special and this just brings it all back and makes me think about them. Some of the guys are no longer with us, they're passed unfortunately, so it's a really really big, deep mirror I'm looking into. The reflection is great."

Lumsden said he was thrilled to hear he would be inducted into the Hall, and he loved how it was done this year, with inductees being honoured at a special party during Grey Cup Week where they could hang out both with fans and with past inductees.

"It's unreal," he said. "To have it on this weekend makes it that much more special. The guys at the Hall did a phenomenal job with this reception. It's a big freaking deal."

Lumsden's still actively involved in the CIS game, as he currently serves as the running backs coach at the University of Guelph. He said he loves coaching as a way to pass on what he's learned and a way to hopefully help young players in their careers.

"I've been coaching for the last 25 years but I've been at the University of Guelph for the last few," he said. "I love it for a lot of good reasons. There's a lot of really talented guys that I get to put my hands on and maybe just maybe create a situation like my coach created for me at the University of Ottawa, get them to where they ultimately want to go. It's a wonderful opportunity."

He said he thinks the current quality of the CIS game is great, but you wouldn't want to rule a team from his era out in a hypothetical game.

"I think like all sports the athletes are probably a little bigger,a little stronger, maybe a little faster because of the training involved," Lumsden said. "But the quality of the guys? All those guys who played on those teams, the great teams, would tell you that we could beat them, and I think on a level playing field we could because our level of talent was very high. But, you know, we're old and we don't want to play them."

There have been a lot of talented Canadian running backs in the CFL since Lumsden's time, but few received great opportunities to carry the ball until recently. That's starting to change, though. Neil's son Jesse was used as a featured running back before injuries forced him out of football and into bobsledding (where he'll compete for Canada at the Sochi Olympics), and he helped pave the way for current Canadian stars like Jon Cornish and Andrew Harris. Cornish in particular had an outstanding year, becoming the first Canadian to claim the CFL's Most Outstanding Player award since 1978 earlier this week. Lumsden said it's terrific to see what Cornish is doing.

"He's special," Lumsden said. "He's one of those guys, he's a special player. And there are a lot of those guys out there in other positions that I really like who might not get the recognition. And they're continuing to come. That's the great thing for guys like Wally Buono who run those football organizations and can benefit from that talent that's coming."

It is terrific to see that Canadian talent continually on the rise, and the CIS has a big role to play in that. Lumsden and many of his teammates accomplished great things in the university game before going on to CFL stardom, and it's neat that now he's using that experience to coach current CIS players. Lumsden is only the third CIS player to be honoured under this new rule, but there are many more deserving ones out there, and maybe someday, someone he's coached in CIS will get a call from the Hall themselves.