It seems the older Paul McCallum gets, the better he gets.
The 41-year-old kicker/punter with the B.C. Lions finished the regular season as the CFL’s scoring leader with 203 points, six more than former teammate Sean Whyte, now kicking for the Montreal Alouettes, and Justin Medlock of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
But more impressive is McCallum hit 50-of-53 field goals he attempted this season, a CFL-record 94.3 per success ratio. And the 19-year veteran showed he still has plenty of leg, his longest boot covering 53 yards this season.
The Vancouver native holds the CFL record for longest field goal at 62 yards and earlier this season hit a league-record 30 straight.
McCallum is also getting it done as the Lions punter (42.1 yards per attempt) and averaged 57.6 yards on kickoffs.
McCallum wasn’t the only greybeard to enjoy a record-setting season, though. Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo, 39, became the league leader in completions, yards and touchdowns.
Calvillo, in his 18th CFL season, again led the league in passing with 5,251 yards and also added a league-high 32 TD strikes. He also only had eight interceptions despite leading all quarterbacks in attempts (654).
Montreal also boasted the CFL’s top receiver in Jamel Richardson (112 catches, 1,777 yards, 11 TDs) and rusher in Brandon Whitaker (1,378 yards, 6.1-yard average, four TDs). Whitaker and Richardson also finished 1-2 in yards from scrimmage with 2,016 and 1,777, respectively.
B.C. Lions slotback Geroy Simon fell just short of breaking Milt Stegall’s all-time receiving yards record of 15,153. Simon finished second behind Richardson in yards this year with 1,350 on 84 catches, leaving the 36-year-old with 15,087 yards for his career, just 66 short of Stegall’s mark heading into next season.
The Toronto Argonauts (6-12) finished last in the East Division and out of the CFL playoffs, but kick-returner Chad Owens was a bright spot. He became the first player in pro football history to surpass 3,000 all-purpose yards in consecutive seasons while leading the league in punt return and kickoff return yards.
The 2011 season was the year of the Canadian running back in the CFL, with Jerome Messam of the Edmonton Eskimos becoming just the third Canadian-born 1,000-yard rusher and first since 2000. The Toronto native, who grew up in Brampton, Ont., rushed for 1,057 yards to finish third behind Whitaker and Toronto’s Cory Boyd (1,141).
Calgary’s Jon Cornish, a native of New Westminster, B.C., finished tied with Richardson with most TDs (11). Cornish took over the Stampeders’ starting tailback duties during the season and finished with 863 yards on just 119 carries (7.3-yard average) and ran for nine touchdowns.
Also showing flashes of brilliance was Andrew Harris of the B.C. Lions, with the Winnipeg native running for 458 yards on 96 carries (4.8 yards). Harris also had five catches for 74 yards and two TDs in his club’s regular-season finale, a 43-1 win over Montreal on Saturday night.
Saskatchewan slotback Chris Getlaf was the CFL’s top Canadian receiver. The 28-year-old Regina native had 60 catches for 1,071 yards and 10 TD receptions.
Four defensive players had more than 90 tackles this season, with Saskatchewan’s Jerrell Freeman leading the way with 105. B.C.’s Solomon Elimimian (98), Toronto’s Lin-J Shell (94) and Hamilton’s Renauld Williams (91) were the others.
Hamilton’s Justin Hickman and Winnipeg’s Odell Willis provided the biggest headaches for opposing quarterbacks, finishing tied with 13 sacks each. Hickman also was also second overall in forced fumbles with five (Toronto’s Willie Pile led with six).
Winnipeg’s Jovon Johnson was the CFL leader in interceptions with eight, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Toronto’s Byron Parker also took two picks back for TDs this season, giving him a league-record nine for his career.
Defence played a big role in the Bombers’ resurgence as they finished first in the East Division with a 10-8 record after posting a league-low mark of 4-14 last year. The Bombers led in 12 of the league’s 25 defensive categories, including fewest yards (301.1 per game), fewest passing yards (223.1 per game), most sacks (55) and interceptions (tied with Edmonton with 25).
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