Long-time CFL on TSN panellist Chris Schultz has been inducted into the media wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame just over two years after he suddenly passed from a heart attack.
The 61-year-old was a household name to football fans in Canada, spending more than 20 years covering both the NFL and CFL following his retirement from pro football.
Born in Burlington, Ontario, the six-foot-eight, 277-pound lineman earned a scholarship to the University of Arizona. After converting from defensive line to left tackle for his senior year, Schultz was drafted in the seventh round, 189th overall of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.
After three years in Dallas, Schultz returned to Canada and played nine seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, winning the Grey Cup in 1991. A two-time league all-star, he was named to the Argonauts’ all-time team in 2007 as one of the greatest to ever play for the double blue and was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
The gentle giant seamlessly transitioned to broadcasting, co-hosting football shows on The Fan 590 in Toronto from 1995 until 2010. In 1998, Schultz joined TSN, where he distinguished himself on the CFL on TSN panel, becoming a fan favourite for his unique brand of insight and humour. He contributed analysis to SportsCentre and TSN.ca until 2017, before shifting back to radio in his final years as the colour analyst for Argonauts’ games on TSN 1050. During his broadcasting career, he proudly championed Purolator’s Tackle Hunger campaign as its Canadian spokesperson.
Also inducted into the media wing were veteran sportswriter Vicki Hall and long-time TSN producer Jon Hynes.
Hall was the CFL beat writer for the Edmonton Journal from 2001 to 2008, later joining the Calgary Herald. She served as an NHL writer and backup CFL reporter, before taking over the Stampeders beat from 2013 to 2015. She was elected as the first female president of the Football Reporters of Canada in 2015 and became the first woman on the Canadian Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Hynes has worked on CFL games with TSN since 1994, serving as the lead producer for more than 800 CFL telecasts and the past 14 Grey Cups. He became TSN’s senior producer of live events and has won two Canadian Screen Awards while earning 10 nominations for best live sporting event, including the 100th Grey Cup in 2012.
Nominees for the media wing are recommended by the Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) before being presented to the CFHOF Selection Committee for approval. The Media Class of 2023 will be inducted on Grey Cup Sunday, November 19, during the FRC annual brunch.
