Ben Zambiasi
.png) Zambiasi in 2019 | |||||||||
| No. 31 | |||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | September 19, 1956 Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College | Georgia | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1978: 10th round, 271st overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| 1978–1987 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | ||||||||
| 1988 | Toronto Argonauts | ||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career CFL statistics | |||||||||
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Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2004) | |||||||||
Benjamin Ray Zambiasi (born August 19, 1956) is a former linebacker for the University of Georgia and in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Zambiasi was born in Valdosta, Georgia, and attended high school at Mount de Sales Academy in Macon playing on three state championship football teams there.[1] He played for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1974 to 1977.[2] While at Georgia Zambiasi led the Bulldogs with 467 career tackles tackling 173 in 1977.[3] He later graduated from the University of Georgia in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree. He was drafted by the NFL's Chicago Bears in the 10th round, 271st overall, in 1978, but ended up coming to Canada after training camp.[4]
Zambiasi played 10 years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1978–1987) and one year with the Toronto Argonauts (1988).[2][5] He played in 4 Grey Cup games winning one championship in the 74th Grey Cup. He won the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award in 1979 and was an all star 8 times.[6] He was selected to the University of Georgia Bulldogs' Team of the Century and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Wall of Honour in 2002. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004,[2] the Georgia-Florida game Hall of Fame in 2014,[7] the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2019[8] and the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame in 2024.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ Radley, Scott (February 15, 2019). "Ticat legend Ben Zambiasi is heading to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Ben Zambiasi". Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum.
- ↑ "Zambiasi Dogs SEC Legend". BuckBelue.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
- ↑ "1978 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ↑ Mark Harding (September 30, 1988). "How Ben Zambiasi became an Argo Pitch for a job coincided with Landry's vanishing". Toronto Star.
- ↑ "Ben Zambiasi". CFLapedia.
- ↑ "Nashvillesportsmix.com". nashvillesportsmix.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014.
- ↑ "CLASS OF 2019". GSHF. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
- ↑ "2024 Class". www.ghsfhf.com. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
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- 1956 births
- Living people
- Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats players
- Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners
- Canadian football linebackers
- Toronto Argonauts players
- Georgia Bulldogs football players
- Players of American football from Valdosta, Georgia
- Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American football linebacker, 1950s birth stubs
- Canadian football linebacker stubs
