On Thanksgiving Monday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium, as the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks battled on the turf, a fan favourite took centre stage during halftime. Bryan Chiu, one of Canadian football\u2019s most respected offensive linemen, was honoured for his induction into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame, an accolade that cements his legacy as an Alouettes and CFL legend. Making it even more special for the center was that he was joined by former teammate and newly minted CFL Hall of Fame member Jeremaine Copeland. \u201cI didn\u2019t know whether to smile or cry,\u201d Bryan Chiu said of his return to Molson Stadium. \u201cI felt like it was my game day today coming in, the sense of the stadium is still there. t hasn\u2019t faded. That\u2019s what\u2019s amazing. I didn\u2019t know what to expect, but I had these butterflies today as we were coming, coming into the stadium, like I was trying to play a game. That\u2019s how we\u2019re so interconnected with this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hall of Fame induction is the ultimate recognition for a player who has given so much to the game. The Montreal faithful rose in unison at halftime to celebrate Chiu\u2019s career. With friends, family, former teammates, and thousands of fans in attendance, Chiu stood at midfield, visibly moved by the reception. \u201cHeartwarming, but at the same time, I felt undeserving,\u201d Chiu said of his Hall of Fame induction. \u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s a true team game, and me getting singled out, it\u2019s special, but at the end of the day, I think it\u2019s important that we recognize every other player that helped us all get there. I\u2019m accepting this honour on behalf of Montrealers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Vancouver, Bryan Chiu\u2019s football journey began at Pacific Lutheran University and then Washington State where his talent and grit on the offensive line quickly attracted attention. Drafted by the Montreal Alouettes in 1996, Chiu would go on to anchor the team\u2019s offensive line for 13 seasons. His commitment to excellence and leadership quickly made him a fan favourite and a respected figure in the locker room.<\/p>\n
Chiu\u2019s career with the Alouettes is testimony to his love of the game and commitment to his team. He played in 218 games, starting 203 of them, an incredible feat of durability and consistency. As the team\u2019s center, Chiu was the linchpin of a line that protected Anthony Calvillo and paved the way for some of the most explosive offences in CFL history. \u201cI snapped the ball to him for 13 seasons,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing him and Jason Maas brings back crazy memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chiu\u2019s efforts helped guide Montreal to eight Grey Cup appearances, with the crowning achievement coming in 2002 when the Alouettes captured the championship. He would hoist the Grey Cup once again as an Alouette in 2009 and as the offensive line coach for the Redblacks in 2016.<\/p>\n
Chiu was named as a CFL All-Star six times and was recognized as the league\u2019s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 2002. His technical skill, intelligence, and leadership set the standard for his position, and his quiet confidence inspired teammates and coaches alike.<\/p>\n
Today, Chiu has returned home to British Columbia where he is the head coach of his alma mater, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish. This is a role that Chiu relishes, \u201cit means the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is the most rewarding job I\u2019ve ever had, and more importantly, I\u2019m able to impart on them a lot of experiences I\u2019ve learned in the CFL in Montreal, and trying to help them from making any of those mistakes that I made.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was one final order of business for Chiu and his family before heading back to the west coast. \u201cSchwartz Deli,\u201d he said. \u201c A medium smoked meat with all the trimmings and a black cherry soda.\u201d n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Thanksgiving Monday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium, as the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks battled on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[3050,110126,110125,49,48,52046,521,52043,52048,522,520,39829,52047,50472,941,14967,2703,82,39828],"class_list":["post-231859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-american-football","tag-anthony-calvillo","tag-bryan-chiu","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadian-football-league-teams","tag-canadian-football-leagues","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-gridiron-football","tag-gridiron-football-variants","tag-jason-maas","tag-montreal-alouettes","tag-ottawa-redblacks","tag-professional-sports-leagues","tag-sports","tag-team-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}