The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have named Adam Bighill as the 2021 recipient of the Ed Kotowich Good Guy Award.
It acknowledges the player who has excellent football ability, is a leader in the locker room and shows outstanding effort in the community.
Bighill joined the Bombers as a free agent in May of 2018 and made an immediate impact on the field, being named a CFL all-star that season as well as the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Bighill has since played a critical role in Winnipeg’s success, having been at the centre of a defence which has been dominant in the 2019 and 2021 Grey Cup championships. His 2021 season was one of the best in his illustrious career, as he earned a spot on the CFL’s all-star team for a sixth time and earned the league’s top defender award for the third time in his career, including 2015 during his days with the B.C. Lions.
Bighill has made a huge impression off the field and is involved in a number of local and national charities, including Operation Smile Canada, The Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, Special Olympics Manitoba and the Manitoba Ride For Dad. In addition, Bighill volunteers to coach youth football with the Recruit Ready program and has represented the Blue Bombers in community initiatives including ‘I love to read.’
A year-round Winnipeg resident, Bighill and his wife Kristina are the parents of three children — Leah, A.J. and Beau.
The ‘Good Guy Award’ honours Ed Kotowich, who played for the Blue Bombers from 1955-61.
A division all-star and the Bombers Most Valuable Canadian Player in 1959, Kotowich served as an alderman for the City of St. Boniface from 1968-1977, helped coached the Winnipeg Rods, worked with minor football programs at Winakwa and Windsor Park as also served on countless number of community boards before his sudden passing at the age of 52 in 1986.
Kotowich was also a sports broadcaster with CBC-TV, CKY Radio, CFRW Radio and was inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame in 1986.
