Class of 2024 BC Football Hall of Fame Inductee

Photo Credit BC Lions

Since 1999, fans of the Canadian Football League – and the BC Lions – have had the benefit of listening to Giulio Caravatta breakdown plays and explaining the ins and outs of the game they were listening to. 

Caravatta began his broadcast career in 1999 as an analyst on the BC Lions’ pre- and post-game shows when he was approached by another BC Football Hall of Famer, JP McConnell, asking if he would be interested. A year later, he would become the BC Lions’ colour commentator. 

Although the Lions would see their radio rights jump to different networks over the years, Caravatta would be one of the consistent figures providing his expert analysis for the listening audience. 

He also worked with Rogers Sportsnet as well as an analyst providing insight into the CFL.

He has been a regular fixture at BC Lions activities as well, including being involved in podcasts and the Orange Helmet Awards. 

Prior to becoming a media personality, Caravatta was a quarterback and punter at Simon Fraser University and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the BC Lions in 1991. 

A native of Etobicoke, Ontario, Carvatta made one start for the Lions late in the 1996 season as quarterback.

It was not only his last start as quarterback, but it would take two decades later before any Canadian-born quarterback in the CFL (Brandon Bridge in 20015 with the Montreal Alouettes) would start in a game. Caravatta is a former Captain of the West Vancouver Fire and Rescue Unit and is now retired. 

ATHLETE (AMATEUR) 

Shawn Olson Shawn Olson is one of the most prolific quarterbacks to ever come out of BC. 

Following a standout high school career at Surrey’s Holy Cross Regional High School, he made the jump to his hometown Surrey Rams of the 1992 to 1995 where he guided the team to three BC Junior championships and one Western Canadian Championship. 

During those seasons with the Rams, he passed for 5,758 yards and had 62 touchdowns over three seasons playing quarterback. 

After his stint with the Rams, Olson would take his quarterbacking talents to the Point Grey campus of the University of British Columbia to ply his trade with the UBC Thunderbirds. In five seasons from 1996 to 2000 with the T-Birds, he guided UBC to a 30-17-1 record and was a three-time Canada West All-Star. 

He amassed 9,953 yards passing, 1276 rushing yards and 65 touchdowns (55 passing and 10 rushing) making him one of the most prolific offensive players of all time at UBC. 

His crowning achievement would be quarterbacking the Thunderbirds to a Vanier Cup victory in 1997 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees. After his playing career, Olson would turn to the coaching ranks spending time in both North America and Europe. 

He was an assistant coach for the Calgary Dinos in 2001 before moving to Austria to build the Vienna Vikings into the top team in Europe. 

With the Vikings, Olson led them to four straight Euro Bowls championships, the first two in franchise history as a player in 2004 and 2005, and then two more Euro Bowls championships as the Vikings’ head coach in 2006 and 2007. 

Olson would return to North America in 2007 to become the offensive coordinator at Simon Fraser University, helping lead the team to a Hardy Cup Championship in 2008. 

He would return to the Point Grey Campus in 2010 when he was named head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds, spending five seasons with his alma mater. 

He guided the team to their first playoff win in 12 years in 2011 (officially, the team finished 0-8 in the regular season due to an ineligible player) and was named the Canada West Coach of the Year.

Mike Emery 

There were few players who played as big a role in the on field success of the UBC Thunderbirds as Mike Emery did in the 1980s. 

Following a standout high school career at Steveston High School in Richmond which saw him named an Outstanding Linebacker (1978-1979), it didn’t take the Richmond, BC native to become the big man on campus when he made the move to UBC and earned a starting position as linebacker in his rookie year. 

Mike was a three-time co-defensive captain (1980-82) and was twice named a Canada West All-Star and All Canadian (1981-82). 

After helping guide the Thunderbirds to a Hardy Cup appearance in 1981, Emery and his teammates would finish the job in 1982 when they went undefeated in Canada and captured the school’s first-ever Vanier Cup Championship with Mike leading the team with 102 tackles during the season.

For his efforts, he was named the Bruce Coulter Vanier Cup Co-Defensive MVP. 

He was also a two-time (1981-82) All Canadian, and was awarded, for two consecutive years (1981 & 1982), the national President’s Trophy as the Defensive MVP in Canadian University Football. 

Emery went on to be drafted in the first round, 3rd overall, by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1983 and enjoy a five-year CFL career playing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Concordes, and Toronto Argonauts. 

ATHLETE (PROFESSIONAL) 

Paul McCallum is, without question, a Legendary Kicker in Canadian Football. McCallum is widely recognized as one of the most prolific and accurate kickers of his generation. Before his celebrated football career, 

McCallum was an accomplished youth soccer player, representing British Columbia at the Canada Summer Games and even playing in a preseason tournament with the Vancouver 86ers.

His talent took him overseas, where he played professionally in Scotland at the age of 19. 

Upon returning to Canada, the Vancouver native shifted his focus to football, joining the Surrey Rams of the British Columbia Junior Football Conference (BCJFC). 

This decision marked the beginning of an impressive 24-year professional football career, during which he played for 26 seasons. 

McCallum’s professional football journey included stints with several teams, including the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and BC Lions. 

He also made his mark in other leagues, playing for the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws, where he scored the first points in the league’s history, and the Scottish Claymores, with whom he won the World Bowl in 1996. 

The majority of McCallum’s CFL success came during his time with his hometown team, the BC Lions. 

He was part of the Lions’ 1994 Grey Cup championship team, but his most notable achievements came during his second stint with the Lions from 2006 to 2014.

During this period, he earned five CFL West All-Star nods, two CFL All-Star selections (2010, 2011), and won two more Grey Cup championships in 2006 and 2011. 

McCallum was awarded the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian in 2006 and the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Award in 2011. 

McCallum’s legacy is cemented by several records and accolades. He holds the CFL record for the longest field goal (63 yards) set in 2001, ranks second for the most field goals and scoring in CFL history, and holds the record for the longest kickoff in BC Lions history (100 yards) set in 1994. 

He also shares the Grey Cup record for the most field goals in a game (6) achieved in 2006. 

In recognition of his remarkable career, Paul McCallum was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Glen Suitor Long before Glen Suitor became a fixture on television screens as a media personality on the CFL on TSN, he was a standout defensive back terrorizing opposition offenses on the gridiron throughout his entire 11-year CF.

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