WitP: Chad Owens, Solomon Elimimian, David Veikune

CFL.ca sportswriters gave out their mid-season awards and a couple of ex-UH players were recipients.

MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER

Stein’s pick: Chad Owens (TOR) – I would pay money to see Chad Owens play football. He is exciting, electrifying and game changing whenever he is on the field. He brings a crowd to its feet and creates a buzz in the stadium whenever he touches the ball on a return. Even when he doesn’t return the ball he is a factor – see Ryan Christian’s return for a touchdown against Montreal. Owens is averaging 11.2 yards per punt return, which is tops in the CFL among players with more than 12 returns. Owens has also added a spectacular 117 yard touchdown on a missed field goal return – a play that makes teams think twice about attempting a long field goal.

Mitch’s pick: Chad Owens (TOR) – Agreed. No brainer on this one. Owens has been outstanding this year. Every time the ball touches his hands you expect something big to happen.

MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE

Stein’s pick: Solomon Elimimian (BC) – Defensive players often get less of the spotlight than their flashy offensive counterparts. That is why I’m giving the nod for Most Outstanding Rookie to the B.C. Lions’ Solomon Elimimian. All season long he has demonstrated a fearless attitude on the football field while making plays for B.C.’s strong defence. The fact that Elimimian cracked such a veteran line-up is all the more impressive. He plays a lot bigger than his 5’11”, 225 lbs. frame and represents a great find by the B.C.’s scouts.

And David Veikune worked out for the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday.