Kenny Lawler clinched the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ latest Grey Cup appearance with three touchdowns against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Canadian Football League season comes to an end this Sunday in Vancouver, British Columbia, and there is a Seattle Seahawks connection to this year’s Grey Cup.
Kenny Lawler was one of Seattle’s two seventh-round picks in the 2016 NFL Draft. While he never made the regular season roster, he stuck around on the practice squad until he was released early in the 2017 regular season. When he headed up north to the CFL’s BC Lions, he never played a game for them.
Everything changed when he signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In his first season with the team, he caught 43 passes for 639 yards and 4 touchdowns, as well as 8 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown on his way to his first Grey Cup.
With the 2020 season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lawler came back in 2021 with an All-Star caliber season, leading the CFL with 1,014 receiving yards over the shortened 14-game season. Winnipeg won the Grey Cup again in 2021 in one of the most prime Legion of Boom Seahawk-y ways you’ll ever see.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers win the Grey Cup in OT on a twice tipped interception pic.twitter.com/6MRBX3YwUL
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 13, 2021
After one season with the Edmonton Elks, Lawler returned to Winnipeg in 2023 and had another strong season, but his quest for a third Grey Cup was denied by the Montreal Alouettes in the final seconds.
Even with several games missed to injury, Lawler was still productive with 41 catches, 662 yards, and 4 touchdowns in his 2024 season.
Last week, Lawler sent the Blue Bombers to their fifth consecutive Grey Cup final with a spectacular 4-catch, 177-yard, 3-touchdown performance to eliminate the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He might not have been cut out for the NFL, but Lawler is clearly one of the most successful Seahawks draft picks in CFL history.
Having lost the last two championship games in heartbreaking fashion, Winnipeg faces the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 3 pm PT. It’s a rematch of the 2022 Grey Cup, which Toronto won on a blocked field goal. American viewers can catch the game live on CBS Sports Network. The game will also be carried on the CFL+ streaming service.