NAME: Andrew Buckley
UNIVERSITY: Calgary
CATEGORY: Student-Athlete
SPORT: Football
HIGHLIGHTS:
Three-time Canada West Champion
Two-time U SPORTS Player of the Year (2014, 2015)
Two-time CW record-breaker
U SPORTS passing yards record-breaker
BIOGRAPHY:
To understand the impact Andrew Buckley had on Canada West football, one only needs to open up the conference record book.
The former Calgary Dino wrote his name up and down its pages, most notably breaking the CW and U SPORTS passing record in 2015 (now third). But it wasn’t just individual greatness Buckley achieved. The hometown quarterback is a three-time Canada West champion and guided his Dinos to a Vanier Cup appearance in his first year as the school’s starting QB.
Buckley also owns the CW record for completion percentage (71.95) and led an offensive firestorm that set multiple school records.
The Calgary, AB product was named the best university football player in the nation not just once, but twice in his career (2014 & 2015). The two-time Hec Crighton Trophy winner was fittingly twice named a U SPORTS first-team all-Canadian and thrice a Canada West first-team all-star.
Buckley was as impressive off the field as he was on it. He proved his academic ability with five Academic All-Canadian nods. Buckley repeated as the Canada West student-athlete and Russ Jackson Award winner in 2013 and 2014, becoming the first-ever athlete to win the Crighton and Jackson in the same season.
“We are very pleased that Andrew Buckley is being inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame. Andrew had an outstanding University career as a quarterback and those talents were recognized as he won the Hec Creighton, Russ Jackson and BLG Awards as the top student-athlete in Canada. Andrew was a great leader in our program and was well respected by his teammates, coaches, and opponents. His achievements on the filed gave him the opportunity to play with the Calgary Stampeders at a time when there were no Canadian quarterbacks playing in the CFL. His performance with the Stampeders has provided the pathway for a renewed interest in giving Canadians an opportunity to play quarterback in the CFL,” said Wayne Harris, Dinos Football Head Coach.
Buckley went on to get drafted by the Calgary Stampeders, playing with them from 2016 to 2017 after he was accepted into medical school at the University of Calgary. While in medical school, he stayed active in the football community as a coach with the 2019 Vanier Cup team.