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Adam Bighill, one of the most popular Blue Bombers during his dominating time in Winnipeg, has decided to wear blue and gold into history.
The Bombers announced Monday that the middle linebacker with a booming voice, and the physical presence to match it, has signed a one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the football club.
Biggie, as he’s often called by teammates, was part of two Grey Cup championship teams in Winnipeg, in 2019 and 2021.
The 37-year-old, who was born in Astoria, Ore., went undrafted in the 2011 NFL draft and signed as a free agent with the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions in May of that year. He helped the team win the Grey Cup that season.
Bighill played 199 regular season games over 13 seasons in the Canadian Football League, wearing the orange and black of the Lions for 99 games over six seasons, before spending parts of 2017-18 with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
Adam Bighill displays championship rings in Regina ahead of the 109th Grey Grey Cup game between the Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)
Bighill returned to the CFL and signed a one-year deal with the Bombers in May 2018. He finished the season as a CFL all-star and was named the league’s most outstanding defensive player.
Bighill would go on to spend six seasons and 94 games with the Bombers (2018-24) before playing his final season with the Calgary Stampeders.
He was named a CFL all-star six times in his career and most outstanding defensive player three times. Bighill ranks second all-time in Bombers franchise history in defensive tackles with 430, behind Greg Battle’s 587, and sixth on the CFL’s career tackles list with 951.
Bighill and his family continue to live in Winnipeg.