TORONTO - Canadian broadcasting legend Brian Williams was honoured on Grey Cup Sunday with the Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award for his contributions to the Canadian Football League, the game of football and Canada's sporting culture.
"Brian Williams has contributed mightily to our league: he has covered 37 Grey Cups, bringing the excitement of our greatest game to Canadians from coast to coast to coast," said Mark Cohon, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League, as he made the presentation during the Commissioner's 100th Grey Cup Brunch.
"Brian is a student and devotee of the great game of Canadian football, and one of its greatest storytellers," he said.
"And I know he will appreciate this: when we honour Brian Williams, it's also our way of tipping our cap towards the countless writers and broadcasters who, over the long and colourful history of what will soon be 100 Grey Cup games, have made the Grey Cup an essential chapter in the Canadian storybook."
A decorated sports broadcaster for more than 30 years, Williams is heavily involved in CFL on TSN broadcasts, interviewing league newsmakers and delivering features that profile players and take fans behind the scenes.
He has also covered 12 Olympic Games, and every high profile sporting event around the globe, as well as the NHL, MLB, the PGA Tour, Canadian and World Figure Skating Championships, World Cup Skiing, Rogers Cup tennis, Forumla One, IRL, Breeders' Cup, Pan Am Games and Commonwealth Games.
Born in Winnipeg and raised in Hamilton, Williams is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame Football Reporters Wing.
"Brian, one of our most remarkable Canadian voices, is worthy of this honour, in one of the most remarkable years in the history of the Grey Cup and the CFL," Cohon said.
