Jon Cornish

Childhood and Family

Jon Cornish is one of five children raised by Rev. Margaret Cornish. Jon’s father, Michael, was an accountant who immigrated to Canada from Barbados in the 1980s. (See Caribbean Canadians.) He moved to Toronto when Jon was only three years old, which was the last time they saw each other in person. They stayed in touch over the phone and through letters before Michael died from diabetes in 2003 while Jon was attending the University of Kansas.

Jon’s mother Margaret is a former music teacher and an Anglican reverend. In her later years, she married Andrea Mann, who worked at the Vancouver School of Theology. In 2005, Margaret was named the vicar of St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Richmond, BC.

Minor Football Career

Jon Cornish had a memorable high school sports career at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby, BC. He played football and basketball and competed in track and field. It was on the football field where he succeeded most as a two-way player. On offense, he had 3,200 total yards in a span of three years, as well as 49 touchdowns. On defense, he had 152 tackles and 37 quarterback sacks. In 2001, Cornish was named the British Columbia Provincial High School Player of the Year. He had 2,136 yards and 31 touchdowns, including 336 yards and four touchdowns in one game.

University of Kansas

Jon Cornish played five seasons of college football at the University of Kansas (2002–06). An injury in 2002 forced him to miss most of the year, and he only had three rushing yards as a freshman in 2003. After 780 yards as a junior, Cornish had an outstanding NCAA season as a senior in 2006. He set a Jayhawks record for most rushing yards in a single season with 1,457. His 2,245 career rushing yards at the NCAA level are the 10th most in school history. He graduated with a degree in psychology in 2007.

Early Years with Calgary Stampeders

Cornish was selected in the second round, 13th overall by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2006 CFL Draft. After his senior season at the University of Kansas, he joined Calgary for the 2007 CFL season. Over the first three years, Cornish did not see much action. He had only 52 carries for 389 yards in 51 games, though he was on the Stampeders team that won the Grey Cup in 2008, defeating the Montreal Alouettes 22–14 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

In 2010, Cornish saw regular playing time and was the clear No. 2 running back on the Stampeders’ depth chart, behind Joffrey Reynolds. Cornish had a respectable 85 carries for 618 rushing yards and 14 catches for 226 receiving yards and one touchdown catch.

All-Star Seasons with Calgary Stampeders

In 2011, Stampeders head coach John Hufnagel replaced Reynolds with Jon Cornish as the starting running back. Cornish had 119 rushes for 863 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, along with 26 catches for a career-high 385 receiving yards and two more touchdown catches. He was named a CFL West Division All-Star.

In 2012, Cornish made CFL history. He had 1,457 rushing yards, along with 11 rushing touchdowns, and broke the record for most rushing yards by a Canadian in a single season. The previous record was set by Norman Kwong, who had 1,250 yards with Edmonton in 1955. Cornish was a CFL All-Star for the first time, a CFL West Division All-Star again and was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian.

In 2013, Cornish broke his Canadian single-season rushing record with 1,813 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. His 1,813 rushing yards are the second most in a single season in Stampeders history (behind Will Burden, with 1,896 yards in 1975) and the fourth-most rushing yards all-time in a single season.

In 2013, Cornish became only the third Canadian to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award, after Russ Jackson (1963, 1966 and 1969) Tony Gabriel (1978). That same year, Cornish also won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian award, was named a CFL West Division All-Star and CFL All-Star and won the Northern Star Award as Canada’s top athlete of the year.

In 2014, Cornish had 139 rushes for 1,082 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. For a fourth straight year, he was a CFL West Division All-Star and for a third straight year was a CFL All-Star and Most Outstanding Canadian. Cornish helped the Stampeders win the 2014 Grey Cup in a 20–16 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. The Stampeders focused on the passing game, and Cornish was limited to 23 rushing yards.

Cornish’s final CFL season came in 2015. He had 115 rushes for 622 yards and four rushing touchdowns. His career statistics are 1,027 rushes for 6,844 rushing yards (fourth most in Stampeders history) and 44 rushing touchdowns. He also recorded 170 catches, 1,707 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches.

Post-Football Career

Since his retirement from the Stampeders, Cornish has worked in financial services as a representative and associate for TD Bank and as an advisor for Cumberland Private Wealth Management and the Royal Bank. He has been with the latter since 2019. His wife, Kiran, is also a financial advisor to the Royal Bank. They currently live in Calgary.

In 2019, Cornish established the Calgary Black Chambers, a professional society for Black Canadians. He has been the chancellor of the University of Calgary since 2022.

Honours

In 2017, the Jon Cornish Trophy was created and presented to the most outstanding Canadian player in NCAA Football. In 2019, Cornish was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum.