Jordan deserves Hec Crighton Award consideration

Chatham’s Ethan Jordan should be in the running for the Hec Crighton Award.

The Hec Crighton Award goes to the most outstanding player in U Sports football. Jordan, a receiver for the Laurier Golden Hawks has had a marvelous season.

With the Ontario Universities Association regular season finishing up this past weekend, Jordan led his Laurier team to a convincing 60-13 win over Western on Saturday. Both teams were the last undefeated U Sports football teams heading into the game. Battling an injury, Jordan had seven catches for 94 yards. He also had a touchdown catch.

With the win, Laurier will have a first-round bye in the OUA playoffs and host a playoff game on November 1.

Jordan is second in the country in receptions (68). He leads U Sports in reception yards (1,066), yards per game (133.3) and touchdowns (10).

For comparison, Laval’s Kevin Mital led the country in receptions (58) and receiving yards (751), when he won the Hec Crighton Award in 2022. When former McGregor Panther Andy Fantuz won the award in 2005, he had 44 receptions for 825 yards.

Only three players in Canadian University football history have multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Two of them (Ethan Jordan and Andy Fantuz) are from Chatham.

It will be tough for Jordan to win the award. Quarterbacks get most of the glory. Since 1996 only two receivers have won the trophy—Mital and Fantuz.

Jordan’s biggest competition for the most outstanding player award might be from his own team. Laurier quarterback Cal Withers.

Withers had an outstanding first season with Laurier, throwing 26 touchdown passes and 2,472 yards passing. Although he grew up in Oakville, Withers’ dad grew up in Chatham and has formed the Maple Connection with Jordan.

Laval quarterback Arnaud Desjardins is another outstanding player who deserves strong consideration for the award.

The Hec Crighton Award will be presented the at the annual Vanier Cup all-Canadian awards banquet held in November.