MONTREAL - Another year, another CFL top defensive player honour for Cameron Wake.
The B.C. Lions defensive end was named the CFL's outstanding defensive player Thursday at the league's awards banquet for the second straight year. Defensive tackle Doug Brown of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was the finalist.
Voting for the award was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada as well as the eight CFL head coaches.
Wake, who was also named the CFL's top rookie last year, enjoyed a stellar sophomore season. After recording a league-best 16 sacks in 2007, the six-foot-three, 260-pound Wake was a quarterback's nightmare in '08 with a league-high 23 sacks, accounting for a third of the Lion's overall total of 68.
He also had five forced fumbles - a league high - and recorded 65 tackles.
Wake has been an amazing story in the CFL, joining the Lions as an unheralded free agent and being converted from linebacker - the position he played at Penn State - into the league's top pass rusher.
But it's unlikely Wake will be back for a third CFL season. He's entering into the option year of his contract with the Lions, giving him a window to sign an NFL contract in the off-season. Wake's success in Canada has garnered him plenty of interest south of the border, making it very likely he will sign a lucrative NFL deal during that time.
Brown, 34, has a solid season with Winnipeg, recording six sacks and 43 tackles. But this marks the third straight year Brown has been an award finalist, finishing second to B.C. slotback Jason Clermont and Lions defensive end Brent Johnson for the CFL's top Canadian trophy.
Brown was named the CFL's top Canadian in 2001.
