ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Nov. 23) – Former Central Washington University football standout Adam Bighill took home Canadian Football League's Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors last night in Edmonton, Alberta at the 2018 Shaw CFL Awards.
Bighill returned to the CFL this season after spending 2017 with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).
"For me, it's just about getting back to playing football like I've done before, and, you know, getting used to being around new teammates, a new coaching staff, new way of doing things and building new chemistry," Bighill told members of the media after accepting his award. "It was just a fun year for me, sharing that with my teammates."
It is the second time Bighill has received the honor. He claimed it the first time in 2015 with the BC Lions following a 117-tackle season.
Bighill registered 105 tackles for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this season, while adding four sacks, two interceptions, and a league-leading four forced fumbles to help the Blue Bombers clinch a playoff berth.
The Blue Bombers finished tied for first with 49 takeaways, second in points allowed (23.3 per game), and tied for the second-fewest yards allowed per play (6.0). They also ended their season with a turnover ratio of plus-13.
The Montesano, Wash. native spent six seasons in Vancouver before being signed by the New Orleans Saints last season. The award marks the fifth time a Blue Bomber has won, and the first since Jovon Johnson in 2011.
"I played six years in BC, and went down to the NFL, it obviously wasn't the best because I'm back here now, but the one thing that I understood was I could come back up here and I could get back to having a lot of fun playing football," Bighill said of his return to the CFL after a year south of the border. "I turned down an offer from Tampa Bay to come back and play in the CFL.
"I could have very easily said that I'm going to stick down here and make it work, but I knew I had an opportunity and get back to doing what I was doing here in the CFL. That was the decision I made, that's what I wanted to do."
Bighill becomes the ninth player to win Most Outstanding Defensive Player on multiple occasions since it was first awarded in 1974. He received 57 first-place votes, getting the edge over Ticats linebacker Larry Dean.
