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Trey Vaval of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made a splash at the CFL awards banquet Thursday night, earning honours as the league’s top special-teams player and most outstanding rookie.
Voting was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and all nine CFL head coaches.
The five-foot-11, 163-pound Vaval led the CFL in punt returns (75) and yards (957) with a touchdown while returning two kickoffs for scores — the most in the league.
The 25-year-old from Blue Springs, Mo., was also tops in missed field goal returns (six), yards (391), longest return (128) and touchdowns (one).
In the special teams category, Vaval beat out former Blue Bomber Lirim Hajrullahu. The Toronto Argonauts kicker made 57-of-64 field goals, including a CFL-record 12 from 50-plus yards (on 15 attempts) and a league-best 25-of-30 from 40-plus yards.
Vaval’s competition for top rookie was linebacker Devin Veresuk of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The six-foot-two, 240-pound Windsor, Ont., native — taken second overall in the 2025 CFL draft — posted 67 tackles, three special-teams tackles, two sacks and an interception.
The interception was a 36-yard pick-six in his first pro start, a 35-17 win over Montreal on June 27.
