HAMILTON--Damon Allen, former Hamilton Cardinals (Hamilton Thunderbirds alumnus) Intercounty Baseball League pitcher was ranked 14th on the TSN Top 50 Players in the Canadian Football League during Grey Cup Festival celebrations at Winnipeg over the weekend.

The announcement was made during a news conference attended by Commissioner Tom Wright, TSN President Phil King and several CFL greats including Doug Flutie, George Reed, Mike Pringle, Garney Henley, Ron Lancaster, Russ Jackson and Wayne Harris Sr. as well as Jackie Parker Jr.

"We are absolutely thrilled that one of our former players has received such an honour," said Hamilton Thunderbirds Vice President Drew Brady.

"While Damon played only briefly for us (formerly Hamilton Cardinals) we feel very honoured that he chose us as an organization to begin his attempted comeback in baseball. It means a lot to the history of our organization and the IBL as well, that for a brief time he was one of us," said Brady.

Damon was an outstanding football player at California State University, Fullerton, and an equally great baseball player. He helped the Titans ball club win the 1984 College World Series, leading his team to a regular season record of 66-20. He was drafted that year by the World Series champion Detroit Tigers in the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft.

Allen did not sign a MLB contract with the Tigers, but did sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday June 22, 1993. Allen reported to the Pirates Spring Training Camp in 1994, but ultimately left camp and decided to return to professional football and the Edmonton Eskimos.

In mid-May of 1993, Cardinals manager Barry Hutton acknowledged that he was happy to have Allen in the lineup, even if was only for a few games. Allen had been working out with the team both indoors and outdoors over the past month. Hamilton was scheduled to play its next three games at home against the Kitchener Panthers, Stratford Hillers and London Majors before Allen was to leave Hamilton to showcase his talents for the Pirates and untimely sign with them.

On May 17, 1993, Allen yielded one unearned run to the Brantford Red Sox as the Cards pounded them 13-2. Brantford scored first with Hamilton coming back to tie the score in the bottom of the first inning. The club built a 10-1 lead before the former Tiger-Cat quarterback Allen made his Intercounty mound debut in the fifth.

Although his Intercounty career was short-lived Damon posted a 1.13 Earned Run Average in two games, one of which was a victory. He pitched eight innings and allowed two runs, one earned on seven hits and three walks. He retired six batters on strikes, hit one batter and gave up one home run. He did not post a batting average because of the League's use of the Designated Hitter rule.

On March 23, 1994 during his brief time in Pittsburgh Spring Training camp action, Allen retired former National Basketball Association star Michael Jordan (0-for-4) for Chicago's Double-A Birmingham club on a second-inning strikeout. Damon was the starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Double-A team, Carolina in that game.

During his career, Allen a quarterback with Edmonton, Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton, Memphis Mad Dogs, BC Lions and now Toronto Argonauts was one of three active players on the Top 50 CFL list. The others were Number 15, Milt Stegall of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Number 45, Terry Vaughn of the Tiger-Cats.

Allen during his illustrious career completed 5,137 of the 9,112 passes which he attempted for 72,167 yards and a completion ratio of 56.4 percent. He threw 392 touchdown passes and yielded 280 interceptions. As a ball carrier he rushed 1,768 times for 11,949 yards, an average of 6.8 yards per carry and scored 93 touchdowns.

At the Winnipeg news conference, Flutie was selected as the Number one CFL player of the modern era, as determined by the TSN Top 50 CFL Players Panel. Flutie, a quarterback, was a six-time Most Outstanding Player in the League, three-time Grey Cup champion, three-time Grey Cup Most Valuable Player who holds the record for most touchdown passes in a single regular season (48 in 1994).

Doug collected 3,384 voting points in weighted balloting - 402 more than runner-up Reed, the Saskatchewan Roughriders nine-time All-Canadian running back (2,982 points). Reed outpolled the late Jackie Parker, the Edmonton Eskimos quarterback who collected 16 first-place votes and finished third with 2,819 points. Parker, who also played for Toronto and B.C., passed away November 7, 2006.

The TSN Top 50 CFL Players was created and managed by TSN, in partnership with the CFL, to celebrate the rich and storied history of the League. TSN assembled an independent voting panel of 60 past and present executives, players and media, who were asked to rank the top 50 players from a list of 185 nominees, in order, from the post-WWII history of the CFL. The candidates were identified following a comprehensive three-month research and consultation process. The results were tabulated by BDO Dunwoody LLP.

For more information contact: Drew Brady at (905) 741-7738