Top 10 Alouettes Players – (1974 -2024) Labatt 50
This past season, the Montreal Alouettes honoured the 1974 team that defeated Edmonton in the Grey Cup Game in Vancouver 50 years ago. Several members of that team were in attendance to watch the Als beat the Elks at Percival Molson Stadium last August. To put a bow on our celebration of that team, we decided to let fans vote for their top 10 Alouettes of the last 50 years presented by Labatt 50. One name from the list will be unveiled every day beginning on Dec. 26.
10 – Anwar Stewart – DE – 2002 to 2011:
Anwar Stewart won the Grey Cup with the Alouettes during his rookie season. That year, he was a depth piece of the defence, but he quickly emerged as one of the key faces of the team over the next decade.
From 2003 through 2006, Stewart had at least seven quarterback sacks (35 sacks over four years), and he was named the CFL’s defensive player of the year in 2004. The former Kentucky Wildcat had a knack for getting his hands on balls around the line of scrimmage. During his stellar 2004 campaign, Stewart finished with four interceptions and two pick-sixes, which is incredibly impressive for a defensive lineman.
Stewart won three Grey Cups with the Alouettes, and he was named a CFL All-Star twice (2004 and 2009), and an East Division All-Star three times (2003, 2004, 2009). He is currently second in franchise history with 66 quarterback sacks, and he’s one of only eight Alouettes to win three championships with the team as a player.
9 – S.J. Green – REC – 2007 to 2016:
SJ Green patiently waited on the Alouettes practice roster for three seasons before he became one of
the great receivers in franchise history. Green only got to dress in the 2009 Grey Cup Game because fellow receiver Andrew
Hawkins suffered an injury in the East Final. One year later, he arrived in a big way, as he surpassed the 100-yard mark in the 2010 Grey Cup.
Green was big and physical, and he had exceptional hands. He was a complete receiver. He was never the fastest guy on the field, but he was able to make plays and block as well as any player in the league.
The former South Florida Bull was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. He won three Grey Cups (two with the Als) and he was named a CFL All-Star twice and an East Division All-Star eight times.
He also made one of the great catches in football history in the back of the end zone in Regina on opening day of the 2010 season.
8 – Sonny Wade – QB – 1969 to 1978:
Sonny Wade was one the best big-game quarterbacks the CFL has ever seen. In the 1974 Grey Cup Game, Wade served as the Als’ backup quarterback behind Jimmy Jones. When Wade entered the game, he gave the offence some life, and they were eventually able to win the game. He was named the MVP of the championship clash. He also won Grey Cups and Grey Cup MVPs in 1970 and 1977.
He put up solid numbers during the regular season, but always took his game to another level in the postseason. That’s what the greats do.
“We had a heck of a team … a veteran ball club,” tight end Peter Dalla Riva told the Montreal Gazette last August when he was asked about the 1974 team. “Sonny was the big guy all the time and we always had a pretty good defence. We knew each other and had been playing together for a while. Everybody did their job. We were close off the field, too.”
Wade is fourth in passing yards in franchise history behind Anthony Calvillo, Sam Etcheverry and Tracy Ham. He’s third in completions and passing touchdowns behind Calvillo and Etcheverry, and fourth in completion percentage.
7 – Chip Cox – DB/LB – 2006 to 2018:
Outside of a stint with Washington in the NFL in 2007, Chip Cox spent 12 years with the Montreal Alouettes. When you consider that the average length of a pro football career is probably somewhere between two to three years, you realize that what Cox was able to do was impressive. On top of that, he also spent each of those 12 seasons with one organization which is almost unheard of in the CFL.
The strong-side linebacker position was tailor-made for Cox. He was fast, could cover, and he also played with an edge that allowed him to make plays around and behind the line of scrimmage. He was a cerebral player that always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
The Ohio native was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2022, and when you look at his accomplishments, it’s easy to understand why he was given that honour. Cox is a two-time Grey Cup Champion who was named the CFL’s top defensive player in 2013. He was on the CFL All-Star team three times and the East Division squad on six occasions.
He owns the records for most career fumble return yards (392), most career fumble return touchdowns (six), and longest fumble return (108 yards). He’s also the only player in Alouettes history to record more than 500 tackles (he finished with 979). And he still has the team record for most tackles in a season, with 115 (2013).
Not only was Cox a tackle machine on defence, but he also has the record for most career special teams tackles in franchise history, with 94.
“I played football for the passion,” Cox said during an interview on the Rod Pederson show in April of 2020. “I never played football for the money. It wasn’t enough money if you look at the risk vs. reward. You’re putting your body on the line and you’re taking years off of your life. It wasn’t ever about the money, and it never will be. To play a game and to put as much into it as I did, you have to love it. People throw the word ‘love’ around, but love is unconditional.”
If not for a quick whistle in the 2006 Grey Cup against the B.C. Lions, he would’ve scored a fumble-return touchdown that probably would’ve given the Alouettes another championship (after review, the Als were credited with a fumble recovery but not the touchdown).
Cox was as complete a defensive player as the organization has ever seen. It’s hard to imagine another player playing long enough to surpass any of his franchise records.
6 – Mike Pringle – RB – 1996 to 2002:
There aren’t many CFL running backs built like Mike Pringle anymore. Pringle was a throwback tailback. He wasn’t tall but he was thick and when he got the ball he looked to punish opposing defenders.
“The way that I used to run, I don’t even think that I’d be able to run that way anymore,” Pringle told me during an interview on TSN radio back in 2020. “Those are penalties now.”
The Cal State Fullerton product played for Sacramento, Baltimore, Montreal and Edmonton during his CFL career which ran from 1992 to 2004. His best season in 1998 with the Alouettes when he rushed for an incredible 2,065 yards in 17 games. He won the MOP Award that year (in 1995 as well) and he was named a CFL All-Star in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2003. He was an East All-Star in 1994 and every year between 1996 and 2001.
Pringle is still the career rushing leader in CFL history, and he has the top two rushing seasons in league history and five of the top eight in that category.
Former Alouettes left tackle and Canadian Football Hall of Famer Uzooma Okeke once told me a story that perfectly encapsulated his teammate:
“We were playing Toronto in Toronto, and we liked to run the ball,” Okeke said. “We were running the ball, and we were going into their end zone, and (Mike Pringle) got tackled. His helmet fell off and (the Argonauts) forced his head into the turf and scraped his head. Having a turf burn on your forehead is something I couldn’t imagine having to play with. We got to halftime, and he put a bandage on his forehead, and it’s a huge scar. He was pissed. I have never seen somebody that mad. I think they must have cut him real deep. They must have said something to him in the pile because he came out in the next half, and he rushed for 200 yards or something crazy.”
There’s no doubt that Pringle is the greatest running back in franchise history. It will be tough for any future back to come close to accomplishing what he did throughout his career.
5 – Peter Dalla Riva – TE – 1968 to 1981:
“Tough, reliable and sure-handed” is how Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia describes Peter Dalla Riva. When you go back and watch archival footage of Dalla Riva, you’ll notice that his jersey was always ‘dirty’. He was clutched and grabbed down the field because it was difficult to contain him.
The three-time Grey Cup Champion was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Alouettes organization retired his number “74” after his playing career.
The now 79-year-old who was born in Treviso, Italy was a three-time CFL All-Star (1972, 1973, 1975), and a four-time East Division All-Star (1972, 1973, 1975, and 1977).
Dalla Riva, who grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, but who has lived in Montreal for decades, spent his entire career with the Alouettes, which is special considering how much turnover there is on pro football rosters.
He is eighth in franchise history in games played (197), third in seasons played (14), fifth in touchdowns (54), second in receiving touchdowns behind Ben Cahoon, sixth in receiving yards (6,413), and fifth in receptions (450).
4 – John Bowman – DE – 2006 to 2020:
John Bowman is the franchise leader for quarterback sacks, and it isn’t particularly close. Bowman registered 134 sacks during his career. He’s the only Alouette to pass the century mark in that category. Anwar Stewart, who was number 10 on this list, is second with 66 sacks.
It’s rare for a defensive player to become the face of a CFL franchise. The rules heavily favour offences, so it’s hard for a player on the other side of the ball to stand out. But Bowman was clearly the most recognizable player on this roster for many years and for many reasons.
First, he was a terrific player. He was a complete defensive end that played with physicality and intelligence. He had at least seven quarterback sacks in all but one of his final 13 CFL seasons. He registered a career-high 19 sacks during the 2015 campaign. He was a CFL All-Star twice and an East All-Star nine times. Bowman was also a starter on the Alouettes’ Grey Cup winning teams in 2009 and 2010.
Secondly, he became a pillar in the community. Bowman was one of the few American players that lived in Montreal all year, not just during football season. He was involved with several local charities, and he did many team-organized events in the community.
“My only skill was work” Bowman explained last year. “I wasn’t the fastest, I wasn’t the strongest, I wasn’t the most athletically gifted. My biggest skill is that I was a worker. That made a lot of people like my game. That made me relentless on the field because I didn’t care who was better than me. I was going to outwork them for 60 minutes and we were going to see who could go the longest. That was my thing. When I tell people I was the average fan’s player, it was because people recognized hard work. You can’t relate to somebody who runs a 4.4 40-yard dash because not a lot of people do it. You can relate to somebody who works hard because that’s what everybody does.”
Like a few legends on this list, Bowman spent all 14 years of his playing career with one team. You just don’t see that very often in professional football, and it shows just how much he embraced the city and the province.
He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
3- Junior Ah You – DE – 1972 to 1981:
We’re in the top three! Hint: this is the last defensive player on the list!
Junior Ah You was one of the nicest players off the field, but he turned into an assassin between the white lines. How physical was Ah You? He told me that opposing quarterbacks would try to chat him up before games in the hopes that he would take it easier on them. Of course, he never did.
Because the CFL didn’t start calculating quarterback sacks until after Ah You’s career began, we’ll never know how many he had throughout his playing days, but we can assume that the number would be very high.
The former Arizona State product was a CFL All-Star in 1976 and 1979, and an East All-Star 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1979.
“He was one of the best defensive ends,” Ah You’s former teammate Phil Price said during an interview last August. “Junior was one of the quickest guys I’ve ever seen…He was quick for a defensive end. He was also tough. That’s what fascinated me about Junior. He was lined up on my side of the field, so (the opposition) didn’t come to our side a lot. We had it made, I had it made (laughs). They didn’t come to our side because of Junior.”
Ah You was named the defensive MVP of the 1974 Grey Cup. He also made the play that changed the momentum of that game against Edmonton when he stripped Esks running back Calvin Harrell. Price recovered and the Alouettes offence was able to get into the end zone for the first time in that game. The team never looked back.
Ah You was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1997 and his number ‘77’ is retired by the Alouettes organization.
2 – Ben Cahoon – REC – 1998 to 2010:
When Ben Cahoon retired in January of 2011, not only did he leave the game as a back-to-back Grey Cup champion, but he was also the CFL’s all-time leading receiver. His mark of 1,007 receptions has since been passed, but the mark he left on the city and in the game will never go away.
Cahoon was pound-for-pound the toughest receiver in the game. He was listed at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds but he was able to bounce back from a big hit unlikely anyone we’d seen at that size. What he didn’t have in height and weight, he made up for in heart. In his 13 seasons with the Als, he missed just 10 games and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark an impressive nine times.
And what can we say about his hands? They were so perfect they’d even make George Costanza jealous. His hands were incredible. Whenever Anthony Calvillo threw the ball anywhere near Cahoon, you knew he was going to make the play. He was as reliable as they came.
Cahoon was selected as a CFL All-Star on three occasions, an East Division All-Star in 1999, 2000 and every year between 2002 and 2009, and he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian twice. Add that to the three Grey Cups he won, and you can understand why he’s widely regarded as the best receiver in franchise history.
“Ben Cahoon, to this day, is by far the receiver that I always reference and go to for doing things the right way, he was well coached,” former Alouettes GM Jim Popp said back in 2016. “He obviously listened, and he perfected it on the field.”
Cahoon obviously left his mark on the offence, but let’s not forget that for most of his career in Montreal, he also served as the holder on field goals. And for one night, he also had to kick field goals. Back on Aug. 2, 2007, Cahoon made the game-winning kick in overtime against the Toronto Argonauts.
No matter the assignment, Cahoon always got it done.
1 – Anthony Calvillo – QB – 1998 to 2013:
Anthony Calvillo is the greatest quarterback in Alouettes history without a doubt. The team’s current offensive coordinator owns many major passing records in franchise and CFL league history. Calvillo owns the CFL records for passing yards (79,816), passing touchdowns (455), 5,000-passing yard seasons (7), pass attempts (9,437) and pass completions (5,892). Breaking those records is going to be a tall task for any current or future quarterback.
Calvillo was like a surgeon on the field. At times, he was unstoppable. He didn’t have the strongest arm, and he wasn’t the fastest player on the field, but he processed the game better than anyone else on the field.
From 2000 to 2010, the Alouettes were the model franchise in the CFL, and a lot of that had to do with the play of their quarterback. With Calvillo as their starter, they went to the Grey Cup in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Eight trips to the championship game in 11 years is remarkable. And consider this: In 2001, Calvillo missed almost half the season with an injury, and the Alouettes failed to make the big game. In 2004, he was injured in the East Final against Toronto, and the Alouettes didn’t play in the Grey Cup. In 2007, he was away from the team again, and they lost the East Semi-Final in Winnipeg without him. Basically, any year Calvillo was on the field, the Als made it to the dance.
“The main reason was being surrounded by a fantastic offensive line my whole career and Anthony Calvillo,” said former Alouettes slotback Ben Cahoon on the day of his Canadian Football Hall of Fame Induction. “We were lucky for a decade-plus to have that: a lot of stability on the line, great talent and work ethic, and the best in the business with Anthony.”
Calvillo was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player three times, he was selected as a CFL All-Star five times, and he was an East All-Star on 10 occasions.
What makes the Calvillo story even more impactful is that he was (and continues to be) a stand-out citizen in the Montreal community, too. The Als pivot has called this city home for many years now, and he’s continued to work with several local charities. He and his wife Alexia have also worked very closely with the McGill University Health Centre. In 2009, the MUHC renamed a family room at the Royal Victoria Hospital after Calvillo and his wife.
