Edmonton add three to Wall of Honour
The Edmonton Elks are adding three former greats to their Wall of Honour. They have announced the addition, for 2022, of former running back Jim Germany, and a pair of formed DB’s, – Jo Hollimon and Ed Jones.
All three played on the remarkable dynasty team that won five straight Grey Cups from 1978-1982. Small wonder that players from perhaps the greatest of the Grey Cup Dynasties are being celebrated. That team had an unprecedented run of success. Dominating to the extent of going 70-22-5 and converting that into six straight Grey Cup appearances (they lost in 1977) and five straight wins.
Each of these players made their own unique contribution to success in Edmonton during their time with the then ‘Eskimos’. Let’s take a closer look.
Edmonton engine room fired by Jim Germany
Jim Germany played seven years with the Edmonton Eskimos from 1977 to 1983. That meant he played on teams that went 78-29-5, appeared in 6 grey Cup games and won five.
He holds the franchise record for most rushing TD’s in a season. Recoding 18 in 1981. He sits fourth all-time in the Edmonton record books with 5,730 career yards. But stats don’t tell the whole story. He was the engine room of the Dynasty Offence. Jim Germany provided a running game that opened up the passing game.
Perhaps the most telling thing is when he returned to the line up in 1982 with Edmonton at 3-5 after he had been out injured. His presence ignited things as Edmonton reeled off eight consecutive regular season wins. And two playoff games to boot to add that fifth straight title.
Germany recorded three one thousand plus seasons rushing in 1977, 1979 and 1980. He won a West All-Star selection in 1979 which was his best season rushing with 1,324 yards. As well as an All-Canadian selection in 1981, one of his non 1,000 yard seasons. What made 1981 stand out were the franchise record 18 rushing touchdowns and one TD passing to go with his 861 yards rushing and 31 pass receptions.
Joe Hollimon
Joe Hollimon signed as a free agent with Edmonton in 1976. Hollimon would go on to play 10 seasons for Edmonton (1976-85). Making him another cog in the Edmonton dynasty that won five consecutive Grey Cups. Paired with Larry Highbaugh, Hollimon gave Edmonton one of the fastest defensive backfields in the game at that time.
A three-time Western all-star and 1978 CFL All-Star, Hollimon played 136 career games with Edmonton. Finishing his career with 36 career interceptions. Hollimon won three West All-Star awards (1976, 1978 and 1982) as well as one CFL All-Star award in 1978.
He holds the franchise records for most interception returns for a touchdown (7), most kick returns in a single game, and most kick return yards in a single game. The latter two coming in the same game as Hollimon returned 8 kicks for 239 yards on October the 31st, 1976 vs. Calgary.
His interception peak came in 1982 as he too contributed to the turnaround with 9 picks.
Ed Jones
Ed Jones played nine seasons in the CFL (1976-84) as a defensive back, eight of them with Edmonton. Jones wound up playing 110 regular season games in Edmonton. Which led to 31 career interceptions for 355 return yards and three touchdowns. Alongside 7.5 sacks and 7 fumble recoveries.
Jones won four West All-Star awards (1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981) as well as three CFL All-Star awards (1979, 1980 and 1981). Perhaps his best season was in 1980 when his 10 interceptions led the CFL and he returned 3 of them for touchdowns.
In one of those games in 1980 (September the 7th versus Hamilton), he had 3 picks, 2 being returned for touchdowns. Both franchise records he shares in.
You can read in more detail about this years Elks Wall of honour additions here.
Banner Image: Engine room of the Edmonton dynasty teams, Jim Germany. Image from goelks.com