VANCOUVER, British Columbia —
Geroy Simon is hoping for a three-peat as far as Johnstown’s ties to the Canadian Football League’s coveted Grey Cup go.
“Hopefully I can bring home another ring,” said Simon, the British Columbia Lions veteran receiver from Johnstown.
“Andrew Hawkins has won a ring the last two years. Hopefully we can keep it in the family.”
Simon, a Johnstown High graduate and former University of Maryland star, is a cousin of current NFL player Andrew Hawkins, a Bishop McCort graduate who was part of the CFL’s Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes the previous two seasons.
This will be Simon’s third trip to the Grey Cup championship game, which is Canada’s version of the Super Bowl.
The Lions will play his former CFL team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, at 6 p.m. on Sunday at BC Place in Vancouver. By chance, the title game previously had been scheduled to be played in Vancouver, which gives the Lions a home date for Canada’s biggest game of the season.
“It’s obviously something we always worked for,” said Simon, who caught a 53-yard touchdown pass in British Columbia’s victory over Edmonton in the Western Final last week. “Everybody always says they want to win a championship. Now, we have an opportunity to win it, so we want to win it, especially in our own stadium.”
The 36-year-old Simon has emerged as one of the most popular players in Vancouver, perhaps in the entire CFL. A
13-year league veteran, he has moved to within 66 yards of the CFL’s all-time career receiving yardage record held by the legendary Milt Stegall.
That mark is a regular-season standard, so Simon will have to wait until next year for that honor.
“It’s kind of a good and bad thing that I didn’t break it this season,” said Simon, who has 15,087 regular-season receiving yards and 98 receiving touchdowns in his career. “It’s good that I can build up to next year. But it’s bad because I can’t put it behind me. It will come eventually. I’m not worried about it.
“I’d rather win a championship right now.”
Simon was part of a moving moment after his touchdown in the Western Final. He presented the ball to longtime Lions trainer Bill Reichelt on the sideline. Reichelt’s 18-year-old son Dylan, a frequent assistant on the BC sidelines during home games, died in a car accident a week earlier.
“We lost a member of our family,” Simon said after the game. “I don’t know what to say man. It’s tough. It’s just tough losing a family member.
“We wanted to show (Bill Reichelt) that we love him.”
With 1,350 receiving yards on 84 catches this regular-season, Simon posted his ninth consecutive 1,000-plus yard season and was named a CFL all-star. His best statistical season was 2006, when Simon had 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns.
He was named the CFL’s most outstanding player and the Lions won the Grey Cup that year.
“This is my third time,” he said of the title game. “We lost in 2004. We won in 2006.
“It’s very special,” Simon added. “This is something that you always strive for as an athlete. I’ve been playing football professionally 15 years and this is only my third time. That shows how rare it is. You have to cherish these moments. It doesn't come around very often.”
Simon spent two NFL seasons on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad in 1997 and 1998.
He also had tried to catch on with the Kansas City Chiefs, Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals after his prolific receiving career at Maryland.
While he didn’t stick in the NFL, Simon developed into an elite player in Vancouver, where he now resides year-round.
He still has close ties to Johnstown and occasionally can be found at a Trojans basketball game during the offseason. His son Gervon Simon has been a star quarterback at Johnstown High the past two seasons.
“I’ve got a lot of calls and a lot of text messages from Johnstown,” Geroy Simon said. “I’ve booked flights for my dad, my grandmother and my mom.
“Everybody is excited.”
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Geroy Simon hoping to bring a CFL championship ring
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