Kingston, Ont. (April 30, 2008) – Queen’s University running back Mike Giffin of Kingston, Ont. was selected 17th overall by the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the Canadian Football League’s College Draft on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s exciting to be drafted and definitely an honour that not a lot of people get to experience,” said Giffin. “Right now I can’t wait to get to training camp to show Hamilton my skills. My goal is to make the team and have a long career.”
“I owe a lot of credit to my teammates,” continued Giffin. “We had a really good group this year and a lot of the personal numbers I achieved were because of the guys. They deserve to share some of the credit in helping reach one of my goals.”
Giffin, who is completing his degree in Geography, broke several school records becoming the first player in Queen’s rich football history to rush for over 1,000-yards in single season while ranking as the nation’s third leading rusher with 1,157-yards in 2007. He also set school marks in scoring (96 points), touchdowns (16), carries (185) and finished second in the country with rushing touchdowns (12)
He was named an OUA First-Team All Star as well as a First-Team All Canadian while ending his season with at least 100-yard gained in 10 straight regular season games. Giffin was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and also picked up the Doug Hargreaves Trophy which is awarded to the Queen’s top offensive football player of the year.
He also collected the Jim Tait Trophy from Queen’s Athletics and Recreation which is given to a graduating male athlete who best displays the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, dedication and exceptional contribution to Queen’s Athletics.
Giffin was the second running back chosen in the draft and the seventh from the CIS. He was also the second player selected from the OUA.
