Ricky Ray inducted into Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Legendary Green and Gold quarterback Ricky Ray was enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame during the Class of 2022 induction ceremony in Hamilton on Friday.

Ray spent nine of his sixteen CFL seasons in Edmonton, becoming the franchise’s all-time passing leader. He was Edmonton’s nominee for Most Outstanding Player six times, and helped the Green and Gold win the Grey Cup in 2003 and 2005.

“When I first came into this league, back in Edmonton, I really don’t know much about the CFL or even about the Grey Cup, but that changed pretty quickly,” the California native said during his induction speech.

“When I walked into the locker room and saw all the pictures and trophies and you step out on to Commonwealth Stadium and you look up and you see the Wall of Honour and all those names up there, and then they start showing you these highlight films and you start hearing about all the Grey Cups and the five in a row from the ‘80s,” continued Ray, who was 22 when he made his Green and Gold debut in 2002.

“Being a young player, I was just so inspired and so in awe of what those guys were able to accomplish, and I sat there thinking man, ‘I’d love to be a part of this league and have a chance to win a Grey Cup’.”

The Class of 2022 will be honoured on Saturday during halftime of the annual Hall of Fame, between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Tim Hortons Field. The game will be broadcast live on TSN with kickoff at 2 p.m. MDT.