Davis Alexander arrived at the Montreal Alouettes team photo intent on providing Tyson Philpot with a huge surprise.
But little did Montreal’s starting quarterback know that his teammate and best friend had some big news of his own.
Alexander was named the CFL’s outstanding player Thursday, while Philpot earned top Canadian honours. Each was tasked with surprising the other with news of their respective awards during last Friday’s team photo shoot.
“Super cool we were able to do this,” Philpot said. “Me and him had goals coming into the season, so it’s two out of three down.”
Alexander and Philpot were the central figures in Montreal posting a CFL-best 14-4 record and finishing atop the East Division. The Alouettes host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saturday’s division final, with the winner advancing to the Grey Cup on Nov. 15 in Calgary.
“Incredible honour, honestly, to be named MOP and MOC,” said Alexander. “I think it could’ve gone either way for this guy. he definitely deserved it as well.
“It was super special to share it in front of the whole organization and have Tyson present it and vice versa me present the trophy to Tyson.”
Philpot, meanwhile, began to suspect something was up when Alexander was nowhere to be seen at the photo shoot.
“Kind of my antenna started going off because I was like, ‘I’m supposed to present this guy with the George Reed Most Outstanding Player award — and he’s not here,’” Philpot said. “Then I asked somebody (where Alexander was), and they smirked, and I was like, ‘Ah, something is coming.’
“And then he came in and did his little speech. I knew who he was talking about when he said his best friend.”
Alexander led the CFL in completion percentage (72.1), touchdowns (35) and 30-plus yard completions (37) while finishing second in passing (5,257 yards). He’s just the second Alouette to surpass the 5,000-yard plateau in a season, joining Anthony Calvillo, who’s currently Montreal’s offensive co-ordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Montreal was 13-3 in games Alexander started this season.
“He’s the hardest worker in this organization,” Philpot said of Alexander in a video recorded at the event. “He shows up to work the earliest guy in the building from what I hear; I’m a little bit later than him.
“No. 10 (Alexander) is the most outstanding player.”
Philpot had a historic 2026 campaign as the Delta, B.C., native set Canadian single-season records for catches (124, third-most all-time) and receiving yards (1,809) in a career-high 16 games.
Philpot, 26, also tied Tyler Snead with a league-leading 13 TD grabs, more than double his previous best (five). Philpot led the CFL in 30-plus-yard catches (14), yards after catch (750) and receiving yards per game (113.1).
“This guy put in an unbelievable off-season; he kind of shut everybody up, and he put the league on notice,” Alexander said during his team address. ” My best friend, with all the honour in the world I’ve got to give my boy, Tyson, congratulations, you’re the MOC, baby.”
Voting for both awards was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada.
Alexander topped voting with 236 points, with Philpot second (154). Edmonton Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo — who posted career highs with 4,788 passing yards and 25 TDs — was third with 23 points.
Alexander becomes the seventh Alouette to capture top player honours, joining Pat Abbruzzi (1955), Hal Patterson (1956), George Dixon (1962), David Green (1979), Mike Pringle (1998) and Calvillo (2003, 2008-09).
Philpot received 48 of a possible 52 first-place votes for 245 points as top Canadian. B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke (four first-place votes, 114 points), running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (74) and Calgary Stampeders receiver Jalen Philpot (10) — Tyson’s twin brother — rounded out the top four.
Tyson Philpot is the sixth Alouette to be named the league’s top Canadian. The others are Terry Evanshen (1967), Gerry Dattilio (1980), Nick Arakgi (1984), Ben Cahoon (2002-03) and Henoc Muamba (2019).
Both players said their respective honours were team accomplishments.
“This is, I guess, an individual award,” Alexander said. “But I think you guys know this is our award.
“Everything we do is for each other, and there’s absolutely, you guys know it, nobody ever bigger than the program.”
For Philpot, the biggest goal of 2026 is helping Montreal win a ninth Grey Cup and the second since 2023. Davis and Philpot were on that last championship squad as Philpot was the title game’s top Canadian after his late 19-yard TD catch earned the Alouettes their 28-24 victory over Winnipeg.
“There’s no (more) important thing that I want than to get the ninth Grey Cup with you guys,” he said. “The city deserves it, everyone in this organization deserves it from the top to the bottom.”
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