TORONTO — A historic first season with the B.C. Lions landed middle linebacker Darnell Sankey the CFL’s top defensive player award. The CFL announced Tuesday that Sankey had been named this year’s recipient in voting conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada. Sankey is the 11th Lions player to win the award, which B.C. has claimed 16 times. Canadian defensive lineman Mathieu Betts won it for the second time last year. Sankey led the CFL in both defensive plays (136) and tackles (114) this season. He became just the second player in league history to register 100 or more tackles in three consecutive seasons, joining Hall of Famer Willie Pless (1997-99). The six-foot, 242-pound Sankey played all 998 regular-season snaps on defence with B.C. He also recorded a career-best 12 pass knock-downs while his three sacks and four tackles for a loss both matched personal bests. Sankey, 32, received 158 points to finish ahead of Toronto Argonauts linebacker Adarius Pickett (99) and Calgary Stampeders defensive lineman Clarence Hicks (94). Fourteen players received votes. Mike Benevides, B.C.’s defensive co-ordinator, shared Sankey’s accomplishment during a team meeting. Sankey becomes the third player Benevides has coached to win the award. “Man, I can’t even, I’m like, shaking,” Sankey told his teammates following Benevides’ announcement. “I can’t even describe the feeling. “It’s been a pleasure just to be in this building with you all; it’s really something special. I respect everybody here; I love you all. Man, we’ve got to go win this thing.” B.C. visits the Edmonton Elks in the West Division final Saturday. The winner advances to the Grey Cup, which will be played Nov. 15 in Calgary. The other Benevides-coached players to win the award are Betts (last season) and Cameron Wake (2008, when Benevides was the Lions defensive co-ordinator). Like Betts, Wake actually won the honour twice (first coming in 2007) before heading to the NFL to play with the Miami Dolphins (2009-2018) and Tennessee Titans (2019). “From Day 1, ‘Sank’ has set the standard for what we have wanted to build on defence,” Benevides said. ”He’s the epitome of a pro and the latest in a long line of great winners we’ve had here. “From Day 1 of training camp and the first defensive meeting in Kamloops, he’s instilled greatness in our unit.” Wake registered 39 sacks over two seasons with B.C. before adding 100.5 during his NFL tenure. Benevides was the Lions’ special-teams co-ordinator and linebackers coach in 2007. Sankey is completing his fifth CFL season. He has appeared in 92 career regular-season games, accumulating 570 tackles (nine for loss), five special-teams tackles, 11 sacks, nine forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 29 pass knock-downs and four interceptions. Sankey won a Grey Cup in 2023 with the Montreal Alouettes and has cracked the 100-tackle plateau four times overall. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.
