Ben Zambiasi

When it comes to listing the best linebackers in CFL history, Ben Zambiasi's name is certain to get mentioned along with greats like Wayne Harris and Dan Kepley. Zambiasi played 11 seasons in the CFL, 10 of those with Hamilton, winning East All-Star honours 8 times and CFL All-Star honours 6 times.  Zambiasi signed with Hamilton as a free agent in March of 1978 and had an instant impact.  He won both East and CFL All-Star honours and was named the Outstanding Rookie in the East.  It was the first of five straight CFL All-Stars for Zambiasi (1978-82).  He was runner-up for the Oustanding Defensive Player in the CFL in his second year in 1979, and won the award in 1981. After one year of missing out on All-Stars honours in 1983 when he was limited to only 11 games due to injury, Zambiasi won three more East All-Star honours in 1984, 1985 and 1986, also winning CFL honours in 1985.  Individual tackle stats were only kept starting in the last two years of Zambiasi's career, or else he would certainly rank among the all-time tackle leaders.  The stats that there are for Zambiasi are 25 career interceptons (4 ran back for touchdowns), 19 fumble recoveries and 26 sacks (not counting three years where no stats were not kept).  Zambiasi was a no-brainer selection to the Canadian Hall of Fame in 2004.

Games Played, Tackles and Sacks
Year Team GP T ST Total TFL Yds KD Sacks Yds
1978 HAM 10







1979 HAM 16







1980 HAM 14







1981 HAM 14





4
1982 HAM 16





4
1983 HAM 11





2
1984 HAM 15





7
1985 HAM 15





2
1986 HAM 16





4
1987 HAM 15 51




3
1988 TOR 6 18




0
Interceptions
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long
1978 HAM 1 44 44 1 44
1979 HAM 1 42 42 0 42
1980 HAM 3 32 10.7 0 18
1981 HAM 3 59 19.7 1 52
1982 HAM 4 77 19.3 1 36
1983 HAM 2 42 21 0 28
1984 HAM 1 8 8 0 8
1985 HAM 3 32 10.7 0 17
1986 HAM 2 48 24 0 29
1987 HAM 3 31 10.3 1 22
1988 TOR 2 26 13 0 22
Fumble Returns
Year Team FR Yds Avg TD Long OFR FF
1978 HAM 1 0 0 0 0 0
1979 HAM 4 4 1 0 4 0
1980 HAM 1 0 0 0 0 0
1981 HAM 2 0 0 0 0 0
1982 HAM 1 0 0 0 0 0
1983 HAM 2 27 13.5 0 27 0
1984 HAM 1 7 7 0 7 0
1985 HAM 2 0 0 0 0 0
1986 HAM 2 15 7.5 0 15 0
1987 HAM 3 0 0 0 0 0
1988 TOR 0 0 0 0 0 0
Punt Returns
Year Team PR Yds Avg TD Long
1978 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1979 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1980 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1981 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1982 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1983 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1984 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1985 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1986 HAM 1 7 7 0 7
1987 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1988 TOR 0 0 0 0 0
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1978 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1979 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1980 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1981 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1982 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1983 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1984 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1985 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1986 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1987 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1988 TOR 1 9 9 0 9
Rushing
Year Team TC Yds Avg TD Long
1978 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1979 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1980 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1981 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1982 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1983 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1984 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1985 HAM 1 -6 -6 0 -6
1986 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1987 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1988 TOR 0 0 0 0 0

1983 Hamilton Spectator