skip navigation

Linebackers Week - Day 2

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters), 02/23/21, 2:45PM PST

Share

Most solo tackles in a CJFL single season

The CJFL Linebackers Week continues.

The word “tackle” is a verb meant to grab or to handle.    In the 14th century the word had come to be used for the equipment used for fishing, referring to the rod and reel.

In football the word tackle is to physically interfere with the forward progress of a player in possession of the ball.   Basically stop him from gaining yards.  A linebacker’s main role on the football field is to stop whoever has the ball and tackle them, whether it’s the quarterback, running back or receiver.

There are several methods of tackling, but none are actually “required” to bring a ball carrier down.  For example a linebacker does not need to wrap their arms around the ball carrier before bringing him down to the ground.  A linebacker often uses brute force with the help of a running start to simply knock the ball carrier down.  As long as the ball carrier is brought down within the legal rules of the sport, then it’s considered a good tackle.

Throughout the course of CJFL history there have been some outstanding players to patrol the linebacker position making tackle after tackle.  In 1983 Rod Arquette had a season still unimaginable making an incredible 91 solo tackles in just one season for the London Beefeaters.  His record has stood for 36 seasons and will most likely stand the test of time. The closest a player has got recently was in 2006 when Ryan King of the Edmonton Wildcats and Scott Magee (pictured) of the Regina Thunder each recorded 66 tackles, which is still 25 tackles short of the pace set by Arquette.    

The top 5 all-time leading linebacker solo tacklers in a single season are:

1 – Rod Arquette – 91 for the London Beefeaters (OFC) in 1983

2 – Jeff Stanford – 82 for the Renfrew Trojans (BCFC) in 1984

3 – Scott Magee – 66 for the Regina Thunder (PFC) in 2006

4 – Ryan King – 66 for the Edmonton Wildcats (PFC) in 2006

5 – Larry Wruck – 66 for the Saskatoon Hilltops (PFC) in 1982

Each day a new category will be highlighted during Linebackers Week in the CJFL