Sherbrooke, June 6, 2010 – Montreal Alouettes’ centre Bryan Chiu officially announced his retirement from professional football today after playing 13 seasons in the CFL, all of them with the Alouettes.
Selected in the second round, 18th overall, by the Alouettes in 1996 CFL Canadian Draft, Chiu joined the team in 1997 and quickly became a prominent figure in Montreal, playing 218 career games, setting a new team record in 2009 for most games played.
“Today, we celebrate a fantastic career and we thank Bryan for his courage, commitment, toughness and leadership throughout the years,” said Alouettes Vice President and General Manager, Jim Popp.
A seven-time CFL All-Star, Chiu was named nine times to the CFL East Division All-Star team and six times to the CFLPA All-Star team. He was also named the CFL’s 2002 Most Outstanding Lineman.
During the past two seasons, Chiu, 36, helped the Alouettes’ offence record more than 600 points per year. His last career game will have been a memorable one, hoisting the Grey Cup for the second time in his career after the Alouettes’ 28-27 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last November in Calgary. He won his first Grey Cup in 2002.
Born in Vancouver but now living yearly in Montreal with his family, Chiu has been very active throughout his career with the various Alouettes’ community programs and has been a prominent member of the Chinese community in Montreal.
