MILLER, ROBSON HONOURED BY CFLAA
The CFL Alumni Association is pleased to announce that former Winnipeg Blue Bombers player and current Bombers President and CEO Wade Miller, and former Blue Bomber player and General Manager Paul Robson are the co-winners of the CFL Alumni Man of the Year Award.
Both Miller and Robson have not only made significant contributions to the Winnipeg Football Club both on and off the field, but have made significant impacts on their community through the years.
Wade Miller was born and raised in Winnipeg where he played minor football before suiting up as a linebacker with the University of Manitoba Bisons. A solid CIS career with many awards along the way led him to be chosen 37th overall in the 1995 CFL draft by the Blue Bombers.
Miller went on to play 11 seasons in the CFL with the Bombers and was named to the CFL’s Eastern all-star team in 1997 and 1999. He retired in 2006, holding the CFL’s all-time record for special teams tackles with 184, a record that still stands today. He also still holds the records for tackles in a single season with 37 which is also a standing CFL record. Miller was inducted into the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame in 2011, just two years before he would become CEO.
Miller is a leader in the business community in Winnipeg, and a strong supporter of many charitable causes. Closest to his heart is his support of minor football.
Paul Robson began his professional football career shortly after graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1959, signing with his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a Linebacker/Centre.
He suited up for the Bombers from 1964 until 1972, playing in the 1965 Grey Cup as a member of Head Coach Bud Grant’s dynasty. During his playing career, Robson was nominated by his teammates to be the Bomber Player Representative in the newly formed CFL Players Association, and he eventually became the Western Conference Vice President of the CFLPA from 1971-72.
In 1974, Winnipeg Blue Bombers General Manager Earl Lundford recruited Robson to become the Assistant General Manager for the team which was the first step in his 15-year career in football administration. He became General Manager for the Bombers in 1983, and the following year, his team won the 1984 Grey Cup. He later went on to become the GM of the Ottawa Rough Riders, and has also held the role of Chairman of the CFL’s Board of Governors.
For the past 6 years, the CFLAA has presented the CFL Alumni Man of the Year Award. Past winners include: Sam Etcheverry, Bayne Norrie, Norm Fieldgate, Don Durno, George Reed, Carm Carteri and Lui Passaglia. All recipients, with the exception of Etcheverry, have been local Alumni members, selected by the host chapter of the CFLAA.
The CFLAA Man of the Year Award will be handed out this year at the Winnipeg Free Press CFL Alumni Legend Luncheon, during Grey Cup week on Friday, November 27 in Winnipeg.
