The CFL best players of each decade. Read this article to find out who the best are.
CFL Best Players of Each Decade Since The 1970s
The CFL has been around officially since 1958 and since then many players have come and gone. The best of the best have come to show themselves and the not so best have shown themselves throughout time as well.
In this article we will look at the CFL best players for each decade since the 1970s and see what made them so great.
1970s: Tony Gabriel
Wide receiver Tony Gabriel played from 1971-1981 and played for teams like the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Ottawa Rough-Riders. Gabriel caught over 600 passes for over 9800 yards and 69 touchdowns.
Gabriel spent four seasons with the Tiger-Cats and seven seasons with the Rough-Riders. Gabriel was an eight time all star and won the Grey Cup twice with both of the teams he played for in 1972 and 1976.
Gabriel was the league’s most outstanding Canadian four times. He is also Ottawa’s all time record holder for receptions and receiving yards. Gabriel is most known for his late touchdown catch in the 1976 Grey Cup against Saskatchewan that won the game for Ottawa.
1980s: Warren Moon
Yes, we know Warren Moon only played four seasons in the 80s and only six overall in his CFL career but he also won three Grey Cups in the 80s and five in his career overall. Moon played for the Edmonton Eskimos for his entire CFL career.
Moon won the first three Grey Cups of the 80s, in 1980,1981 and 1982. In his rather short CFL career Moon threw for over 21,000 yards and 144 touchdowns. In his final year in the CFL, Moon won the CFL MVP award to top the list of the CFL best players and the next year he signed with the Houston Oilers and began his NFL career.
1990s: Doug Flutie
This was as close to a no-brainer as you can get. Doug Flutie played in the CFL from 1990-1997 with three different teams. During his short time in the CFL Flutie won three Grey Cups, one with the Calgary Stampeders and two with the Toronto Argonauts.
In all three of those Grey Cup wins Flutie was named the Grey Cup MVP. Flutie still holds the CFL record for most passing yards in a single season with 6,619. He also holds the record for most single season touchdowns with 48 and arguably tops all lists of CFL best players.
In his entire CFL career Flutie threw for over 41,000 yards with 270 passing touchdowns. He also was a great running quarterback rushing for over 4600 yards and 66 touchdowns.
2000s: Anthony Calvillo
Anthony began his CFL career in America, with the Las Vegas Posse. When the USA/CFL project went up in smoke Calcillo signed with the Tiger-Cats but was quickly traded to the Montreal Alouettes.
Calvillo played for the Alouettes from 1998-2013 and led them to three Grey Cup titles, in 2002, 2009 and 2010. Calvillo also won the CFL MVP award three times in 2003, 2008 and 2009. One interesting statistic about Calvillo is that only Tom Brady and Drew Brees have thrown more yards in pro football than Calvillo has. To be exact Calvillo has thrown for 79,816 yards in his career.
Finally Calvillo is fifth among pro quarterbacks in total touchdowns with 455.
2010s: Andrew Harris
Andrew Harris has to be the best running back and overall player of the past decade. Harris has over 9,000 rushing yards to his name and a pair of Grey Cup titles in the 2010s in 2011 and 2019 plus one in 2021. Harris is most known for playing with the BC Lions from 2010-2015 and the Winipeg Blue Bombers from 2016-2021.
Harris is also a great receiver with over 5100 receiving yards in the 2010s. Harris also has a CFL MVP award in 2019 and in addition to that a Grey Cup title in the same year.
