The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were founded in 1950 and have had stellar quarterback play since then. Here are the 10 best passers in franchise history.
10) Henry Burris – 10,294 yards
2013-2014
The Spiro, Oklahoma native made the list despite only spending two seasons with the Hammerheads. Burris led the Tigercats to a Gray Cup appearance in 2013, when he was nominated by the team for Most Outstanding Player. Last year, he recorded the fourth-highest single-game completion percentage in league history (90.0) and finished the season with the sixth-most passing yards in a single campaign (43).
9) Zach Collaros – 11,342 yards
2014-2017
The dual-threat passer supplanted Henry Burris in Steeltown and spent four seasons with the team, a stint marred by injury. Collaros led Hamilton to the Gray Cup in 2014, his first year in Steeltown, and likely would have been the Most Outstanding Player in 2015 had he not suffered a torn ACL. The Steubenville, Ohio native has scored at least one touchdown in 18 straight games with Hamilton.
8) Bo Levi Mitchell – 11,778 yards
2023-present
The 35-year-old got off to a slow start with the Tiger-Cats in 2023 but has since posted back-to-back 5,000-yard seasons, earning two straight Eastern Division Most Outstanding Player nominations. Although Mitchell won two CFL Most Outstanding Player awards before arriving in Steeltown, he had never led the league in passing yards before joining the Tiger-Cats, accomplishing that feat in 2024 and 2025.
7) Kevin Glenn – 12,146 yards
2009-2011
Glenn spent much of his nomadic CFL career in Hamilton, earning the team's Most Outstanding Player nomination in 2010 after throwing for more than 5,000 yards. The five-foot-ten, 205-pound passer won the Tom Pate Memorial Award in 2011, his last of three seasons with the Tiger-Cats. Glenn led Hamilton to the playoffs in every season he was with the team, something they had failed to do in the four years before his arrival.
6) Joe Zuger – 12,676 yards
1962-1971
The Homestead, Pa. native threw as many as eight touchdown passes in his first start for the Tiger-Cats in 1962, a CFL single-game record that stands to this day. Zuger spent 10 seasons with Hamilton, leading the team to three Gray Cup appearances with victories in 1965 and 1967. The Arizona State alum, who died in 2024 at age 84, also served as the team's general manager from 1981 to 1992.
5) Tom Clements – 13,467 yards
1979 and 1981–1982
The seven-time All-CFL player and two-time Gray Cup Most Valuable Player spent three seasons with Hamilton over two separate stints, earning the team's Most Outstanding Player nomination each year with one division nomination. Clements eventually became the CFL's Most Outstanding Player, but only in his final season in the league, doing so as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1987.
4) Jeremiah Masoli – 15,555 yards
2013-2021
The San Francisco, California native was named All-East Division and nominated for East Division Most Outstanding Player in 2018, his first full season as the team's undisputed starter. He got off to a great start again in 2019, although he suffered a torn ACL in week seven. Masoli had the fourth-highest completion percentage in Gray Cup history in 2021 (80.0 percent), which turned out to be his last game with the Tiger-Cats.
3) Bernie Faloni – 17,425 yards
1957-1964
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee reached the Gray Cup seven times with Hamilton as a 2-4 starter. Faloni was named to the All-Eastern Division five times and was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 1961. The Carnegie, Pa. native is one of only three players ever officially decommitted by the Tigercats, along with Angelo Mosca and Gurney Henley. Faloni died in Hamilton at the age of 66 in 1999.
2) Mike Kerrigan – 17,761 yards
1986–1991 and 1995–1996
The six-foot-three, 205-pound passer was named Gray Cup MVP in 1986 after leading Hamilton to a 39-15 upset win over Edmonton that ended the franchise's 13-year championship drought. Kerrigan helped the Tiger-Cats return to the Gray Cup three years later and threw three touchdown passes, although his team promptly lost the classic to Saskatchewan. Kerrigan was a two-time All-East Division selection.
1) Danny McManus – 33,841 yards
1998-2005
The current assistant general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers helped Hamilton win back-to-back Gray Cups, winning the last one in 1999, when he was awarded the Gray Cup Most Valuable Player award. McManus was nominated three times by Hamilton for Most Outstanding Player and won the award in 1999, marking one of the few times in CFL history that a player won MOP, Gray Cup MVP and Gray Cup in the same year. The Dania Beach, Florida native was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
