On Sunday, the Ottawa Redblacks name former Hamilton Tiger-Cats Senior Director of Player Personnel & Co-Manager of Football Operations Shawn Burke as the new General Manager. He becomes the second GM in Redblacks history.
Burke is a native of Guelph, Ontario, and spent fifteen years with the Tiger-Cats organization. Under his watch, the Tiger-Cats made back-to-back Grey Cup appearances.
They would lose the Grey Cup twice to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Before joining the Tiger-Cats, he worked for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for four years.
Redblacks President and CEO Mark Goudie welcomed Burke. “Today, we begin a new era of REDBLACKS football.”
Burke added, “We ran an extremely inclusive and in-depth GM search process that showcased the high caliber of football minds in our game. I am tremendously excited to experience the passion Shawn will bring to our team, and to RNation. On behalf of the OSEG ownership group — Roger Greenberg, John Ruddy, John Pugh and Bill Shenkman, we’re thrilled to welcome Shawn Burke to Ottawa.”
Among Burke’s duties with the Tiger-Cats, he handled negotiating player contracts and administrating the salary management system. His work putting together the Tiger-Cats roster led the Redblacks to hire him.
Shawn Burke commented on joining the Redblacks said. “I’m incredibly excited to join the Ottawa REDBLACKS and the entire OSEG Family. I’d like to thank Roger Greenberg and the entire ownership group, Mark Goudie and Adrian Sciarra, for giving me this great honor and responsibility. RNation, we’re going to hit the ground running — let’s get to work!”
Burke thanked the Tiger-Cats. “I’d also like to send a special thank you to the fans and the entire Hamilton Tiger-Cats organization. There are way too many great coaches, players, and staff members to mention them all, but these three deserve special recognition: Caretaker Bob Young, CEO Scott Mitchell, and President Matt Afinec. I’m forever grateful for the years spent, and things learned with the Ti-Cats.”
The Ottawa Redblacks will have a virtual press conference with Shawn Burke and Mark Goudie speaking to the media on Monday, December 20th, at 11 am.
