Cahoon is 'Big Ben' up North

It's too bad when you're out of sight, you can really get out of mind around these parts.

Shame.

Out of mind is not the case in Montreal, Canada, where former Mountain View High (1990) and BYU (1997) wide receiver Ben Cahoon is etching his name in the record books as a future CFL Hall of Famer. He is perhaps the most-storied pass catcher the league has ever known.

Last month, it got even crazier when Cahoon, a former soccer player in high school, got shoved in an overtime game with Toronto to kick a crucial field goal. His 22-yard chip-shot proved the game-winning points in the Alouettes' win.

Cahoon was the toast of the town. He still is.

"Yeah, it was almost over the top," said Cahoon Tuesday night after undergoing treatment for a chest bruise he received after his first and last catch of the game in the first quarter against British Columbia. It was good for 42 yards.

"I felt kind of guilty about it, to tell you the truth," Cahoon said of the game-winning kick. He'd been working out as the third-string kicker, hitting offensive linemen in the back with the ball and not taking it serious. But when kicker Damon Duval was ejected in that Toronto game, Cahoon was ordered in to kick.

Bingo. What followed was the flood of ink hitting the papers, and Cahoon was all over TV and radio.

Canadians have come to respect Cahoon as the most consistent big-play receiver in the league. What he did as a rookie and in his second year, he's repeated as a veteran of 10 years.

His best CFL year he had 112 catches. He's on track this season to duplicate that this year with his league-leading 65 receptions, good for 728 yards and three TDs. He averages 11.2 catches a game. This comes at a time most players his age, 35, have given up the game.

Wrote Herb Zurkowsky, of the Montreal Gazette, of Cahoon's famous winning field goal:

"Look, it wasn't as dramatic as Barry Bonds' 756th home run or Paul Henderson's series-clinching goal against the Soviet Union in 1972. But in Montreal sports circles, "the kick" will likely be talked about for years to come, simply due to the sheer novelty of the play. Just as older Alouettes fans talk about Peter Dalla Riva or Sam Etcheverry or Hal Patterson, the fans of tomorrow one day will be discussing the merits of Cahoon and the mark he left, both on a team and the game. His talents know no boundary."