Canadian Football League - George Reed CFL Most Outstanding Player Award

CFL - George Reed CFL Most Outstanding Player Award

The George Reed Most Outstanding Player Award is an award given annually to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from the West Division. The winner of the award is chosen by the Football Reporters of Canada. The award was created in 1953 as the Schenley Award, named after Schenley Distillers Corporation, to honor the most outstanding player in Canadian Rugby Union, one of the forerunner leagues of the CFL, Schenley ended its sponsorship of the awards in 1988. Prior to 1953, the East and West Divisions had their own "Outstanding Player" winners with no overall winner declared. The Western award was and is the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy which was first awarded in 1946. It was named in honor of an outstanding Winnipeg end who was killed in World War II. In the East, the equivalent awards were the Jeff Russell Memorial Trophy first given out in 1928, and the Terry Evanshen Trophy which replaced the Jeff Russell Trophy in 1994. The Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy and the Terry Evanshen Trophies are still awarded. Since 1969, the winners of the two division awards have been the finalists for the Outstanding Player Award. Prior to 1969, the Oustanding Player Award was most often given to one of the two division winners, but not always. For example, in 1968, Larry Fairholm won the Jeff Russell Trophy in the East, and Ron Lancaster won the Jeff Nicklin Trophy in the West, but the Outstanding Player Award was given to Bill Symons of Toronto. The difference in criteria for the awards (the debate between Outstandings and Most Valuable) and separate voting procedures was the cause of anomalies. The Canadian Football League renamed its Most Outstanding Player award to the George Reed Most Outstanding Player Award on November 16, 2023. The change honors the late Saskatchewan Roughriders legend George Reed.

Canadian Football League - George Reed CFL Most Outstanding Player Award Winners