Naylor: Canadian Football Hall of Fame should consider Canadian NFLers It’s time for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame to broaden its scope and reflect the true breadth of Canadian Football greatness. That’s right, it’s time to include for consideration those Canadians who make their names in the National Football League.

Dave Naylor TSN Football Insider Follow|Archive

Friday night in Vancouver, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame announced its 2015 class, headlined by quarterback Dave Dickenson, Montreal owner Robert Wetenhall, and former CFL coach and GM Bob O’Billovich among others.

They are all people who are deserving of the highest honour for their place in the three-down game.

But it’s time for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame to broaden its scope and reflect the true breadth of Canadian Football greatness.

That’s right, it’s time to include for consideration those Canadians who make their names in the National Football League.

Historically this was never a problem for the Hall of Fame in Canada since there were virtually no Canadian players in the NFL for a very long time.

That, however, began to change during the 1980s to the point where, on average, there are between 15 and 20 Canadians playing during any NFL season, many of them players who spent their college years in Canada.

Not every Canadian who spends a few years in the NFL is a Hall of Famer. And no one wants to see the Canadian Hall cheapened that way.

But there are some examples of players who represent some of the very best football talent this country has ever produced who are not eligible for consideration to the Canadian Hall of Fame.

For ten seasons, Israel Idonije was arguably the best Canadian defensive lineman on the planet, and for many years the best Canadian football player – period. He played high school football in Brandon, university football at the University of Manitoba and was a high CFL draft pick who found his way to the NFL.

It is ridiculous that he cannot be considered for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Similarly, skill positon players such as receiver Jerome Pathon and running back Reuben Mayes deserve consideration, especially if one considers their body of work in the NCAA and NFL.

Former University of Western Ontario running back Tim Tindale is another sure-fire Hall of Famer, if you put his CIS and NFL years together and measure his overall body of work.

Hall of Fame executive director Mark DeNobile said this week it's a conversation his group needs to start having. And he's right.

There was much talk last week about how the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, located near downtown Hamilton, has fallen on hard times, with just a trickle of visitors each day.

It may be time to think of a new location – Saskatchewan anyone?

But it would also be smart to re-think how you measure a Canadian Football Hall of Famer.

It's great to honour Americans who play three-down football in Canada.

But just as the Pro Football Hall of Fame is really just the NFL Hall of Fame, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame is currently the Hall of Fame for three-down football.

Now is the time to make the Hall of Fame more relevant by celebrating all of the best players in the Canadian game as well as the best players being produced in Canada.