By Luke Vermeer
CFL Reporter Steve Milton will be inducted into the CFHOF. COURTESY: HAMILTON SPECTATOR
A well known name at Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne Stadium got news this week that he will be receiving the highest honour for Canadian football journalists.
Steve Milton, columnist for the Hamilton Spectator, learned Wednesday that he will be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
“To get the honour in the same year as and to get it at the 100th Grey Cup – to get that large moment at a much larger moment – I consider that significant and it also comes right at the end of Ivor Wynne Stadium,” Milton told Humber News on Thursday.
“The induction will be made as Ivor Wynne is being torn down. I find that kind of poignant,” Milton said.
Darrell Davis is the secretary-treasurer for the Football Reporters of Canada, the organization that decides the inductee, and shared why the honour went to Milton this year.
“Steve always shared his experience with the younger reporters, I mean I’ve been in this business for 25 years and it seems like every year there is a different Ti-Cats beat reporter,” said Davis. “For someone in our business, which is a competitive business, to do that is pretty special.”
For Milton, the induction is a special honour.
“Anybody who’s been anybody in the history of Canadian sports media has had a healthy dose of writing about the CFL,” said Milton. “And to be included with some of those guys who were really my teachers before I even knew them, just by reading them, is great.”
LISTEN: Steve Milton talks about being inducted into the CFHOF
“We’re thrilled by his coming induction,” said Paul Berton, editor-in-chief of the Hamilton Spectator.
“Steve is one of the best in this business, not just covering and writing about football, but in many different sports, and we are lucky to have him on The Spectator team,” Berton told Humber News in an email.
The players Milton has covered over the years agree.
“Steve has an uncanny way of getting the most out of athletes,” said Adriano Belli, former Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive tackle.
“More so than a lot of coaches I’ve worked for over the years. He is a true CFL fan and builder in my opinion,” Belli wrote in an email to Humber News.
“His articles about the CFL were never sugarcoated but certainly always promoted our great league and its uniqueness. He would also take it easy on me when I would have games with 5-6 penalties. Great writer, even better person,” Belli added.
Milton’s induction ceremony will occur during the Grey Cup celebrations running from Nov. 17 to 25.