So soon after their loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the BC Lions have a week off to reflect on the loss and figure out a way to best the returning Grey Cup champs the next time they face them later in the 2022 season (which isn’t until this coming October, according to my calculations…they’ll be facing them twice that month…on the 15^th and the 28^th according to the CFL schedule).

Well, while they recover from the loss and make plans to take the rest of the league teams by storm until October comes, we’ve all had some time to think about the past, which in the end is how legacy stays alive…legacy being what athletes and artists of course live to create….

The “work” is still getting done in the bye week however, as we can learn from the Tweet below…

Some new additions were made to the Wall Of Fame for the BC Lions, and you just may recognize who were so justly honored this time around.

The two men inducted actually won a Grey Cup together in 2011 as has also been reported by The Province: Paul McCallum and Jovan Olafioye.

McCallum had this to say about the honor:

“Being added to the Wall of Fame with my former teammate and alongside all of the best to have ever played for this franchise is an amazing honor and something I will look back on with pride…

I was grateful for everything that football has given me; I was able to play in front of all my friends, family and the people that helped me along the way. I am very lucky and will cherish this moment forever…”

via The Province (link above)

Olafioye had this to add:

“This is an extremely humbling moment for me…I was proud to represent the Lions both on the field and in the community and will forever be grateful to (former Lions head coach and general manager) Wally Buono for giving me the chance to carve out a great career with a great and classy organization.”

via The Province (link above)

According to the same aforementioned piece at The Province, McCallum will be also placed into the prestigious Canadian Football Hall of Fame. That honor is to be bestowed upon him in September.

McCallum, a placekicker and punter, played for four CFL teams as well as the XFL. He even played soccer in his earlier days! He played for the BC Lions of course, but also for the now perished Ottawa Rough Riders, the Saskatchewan Roughriders (yes, for you young ones, there were two teams that went by that similar name back when penny candy existed and bell-bottom jeans had come back in style, or rather leg warmers…you know what I mean).

In the XFL he played for the Las Vegas Outlaws.

He retired the oldest player to still be playing…after making a triumphant return to the BC Lions after quite the extensive career as shown. He retired in 2016. It was funny because he signed a single day contract in order to retire officially as a BC Lion. He retired officially according to Wikipedia and stayed at that status until the final game of the 2016 season, and then that was it…an epic end to a very long football career for sure.  

Born in Detroit, Michigan, yes the Motor City, Jovan Olafioye played his college ball at Grand Rapids Community College; it was there he made quite the impression of course. His pro football career would start with the BC Lions and it would later end with that very same team.

In the middle there, he had a run in the NFL playing for the St. Louis Rams and in the CFL once again he had a brief stint with the Montreal Alouettes in 2017. His return to BC came the following year…where it would be his final season. In 2012 he was named the CFL’s most outstanding offensive lineman.

Thursday, July 21^st is The Lions’ Salute To Service Game

And it will be next week, when after this week off, the Lions will take on the Ti-Cats at 10 PM EST.

But the game will be dedicated to the Canadian armed service men and women who will be in attendance at the game.

*For all news related to the 2022 CFL Season…CFL News Hub…

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