REGINA – The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) announced tonight, during a special reception at Mark’s CFL Week in Regina, that former Toronto Argonauts linebacker Mike O’Shea is being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. O’Shea will be officially inducted alongside Kelvin Anderson, Anthony Calvillo and Geroy Simon in the player category and Stan Schwartz and Brian Towriss in the builders’ category.
Formal induction ceremonies for this year’s CFHOF class will be held later this year, at the Hall of Fame game in Hamilton on September15th and during the week prior to the 105th Grey Cup presented by Shaw in Ottawa.
“On behalf of our entire organization and our fans, it’s with great pride that we congratulate you on this tremendous honour,” said Michael Copeland, Argos President and CEO. “Thank you for everything you gave this organization – from the record number of tackles, to your consistent blue-collar approach, for your leadership on our team and throughout the community, and for representing the Double Blue with class, humility and pride for so many years.”
O’Shea enjoyed a 16-year CFL career, spending 12 seasons with the Argonauts (1996-99, 2001-08) and four with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1993-95, 2000). The University of Guelph alum began his CFL career as a member of the Tiger-Cats who acquired him in a trade after he was selected fourth overall by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1993 CFL Canadian College Draft.
Following three seasons in Hamilton, one of which saw O’Shea named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 1993, he joined the Double Blue in 1996 for his first of two stints with the club. He went on to play in 205 regular season games (3rd most all-time by an Argonaut player), 13 playoff games and three Grey Cup Championships during his time in the Double Blue.
The North Bay, Ontario, native capped off his illustrious career ranked second all-time in the CFL in tackles (1,151) and as the Argos’ all-time leader in defensive tackles in both the regular season (822) and Grey Cup (15). O’Shea also had 43 tackles for a loss, 30 quarterback sacks, 25 forced fumbles, 22 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles. O’Shea, the only Canadian to amass 1,000 career tackles in CFL history, was honoured as a Division All-Star on five occasions, and a CFL All-Star and the League’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 1999, the only time an Argonaut has taken home the award.
O’Shea becomes the 47th Argonaut player to be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame joining former teammates Damon Allen, Doug and Darren Flutie, Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons, Derrell ‘Mookie’ Mitchell, Joe Montford, Danny McManus, and Rodney Harding.
MIKE O’SHEA CAREER SNAPSHOT: