Willie Pless

PLAYING CAREER

TORONTO ARGONAUTS 1986 - 1989
BC LIONS 1990
EDMONTON ESKIMOS 1991 - 1998
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS 1999

AWARDS AND HONOURS

ALL-EASTERN LINEBACKER 1986, 1988
EASTERN DIVISION MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE 1986
ALL-CANADIAN LINEBACKER 1986, 1988, 1990 - 1998
ALL-WESTERN LINEBACKER 1990, 1992 - 1994, 1996 - 1999
WESTERN DIVISION MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER 1992, 1994 - 1997
CFL MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER 1992, 1994 - 1997
NORTH DIVISION ALL-STAR 1995
GREY CUP PARTICIPATION 1987, 1993, 1996
GREY CUP WINNING TEAMS 1993

Willie Pless brought his talents to the Toronto Argonauts in 1986. During his 14-year career he played 250 regular season games with four different teams and made 11 CFL All-Star teams. Pless became the league’s All-Time leading tackler before retiring following the 1999 season.

During his four years in Toronto, he was named an All-Eastern twice, All-Canadian twice, and the Most Outstanding rookie in the Eastern Division. In 1990, he was traded to the BC Lions and although he spent only one season on the west coast, he was named All-Western as well as All-Canadian. 

In 1991, he signed with the Edmonton Eskimos as a free agent. During his eight years with the Eskimos, he set club records for most all-time defensive tackles with 813, tackles in one season with 177 and, on four occasions, tied the club record for defensive tackles in one game with 12.

In 1999, he made his last stop in the CFL, joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a free agent. In Saskatchewan, he recorded 102 tackles, was named the teams most Outstanding Defensive Player, and named All-Western in the final season of his stellar fourteen-year career.

INDUCTED 2005 – PLAYER

 

Class of 2005 Rod Connop, Gord Currie, Ed George, Ray Nettles