Football lineman Bruce Beaton of Port Hood, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is a two-time Grey Cup winner with Edmonton Eskimos, a three-time CFL All-Star, a seven-time division All-star and an All-Century Edmonton Eskimo. Interestingly, Bruce did not come from a high school football background  in fact, it wasn’t until he began attending Acadia University that he became involved in the sport after having been convinced by a friend to attend a spring training camp. Fun fact: that friend was none other than Robert MacInnis, the younger brother of another Hall of Famer, NHL hockey legend Al MacInnis.

As a first-round draft pick of the B.C. Lions as a defensive end, after a pro football education at training camp, Beaton went back to college for two more years, making the switch to the offensive line. B.C. traded his rights to CFL purgatory in Ottawa from where he escaped to become a Calgary Stampeder and then a Montreal Alouette, with a tryout with the NFL Indianapolis Colts and a year in the XFL before settling into his happy home with the Edmonton Eskimos where he would complete his career with a Grey Cup in 2003.

Bruce retired after winning his first Cup in his 11th season in the league. Three times he was a CFL All-Star  seven times a division All-Star. He was calling it a career being the Eskimos nominee for the CFL Award as top offensive lineman for four straight seasons. Despite making a huge success out of his first year away from the game from a business point of view, Beaton was inspired by the arrival of his son Sam to win a ring for his one-year-old and get the Cup back to get pictures of his son with the trophy. And with Beaton back, the Eskimos won it again.