Football player. Nick Benjamin was a former Ottawa Rough Rider and Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman active from the 1980s to the early 1990s. In 1990, Benjamin was member of the Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bomber team.∼Professional Football Player. He played at the position of offensive lineman for eleven seasons (1985 to 1989, 1989 to 1993, and 1994) in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Born Nicholas Benjamin Blue in Trinidad and Tobago he later immigrated to Canada and attended local schools and played junior football in Oshawa, Ontario. He then attended Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, where he played football collegiately with the school's Concordia Stingers football team. With the Concordia Stingers he was twice named an All-Canadian, a Conference All-Star, was a member of the Concordia Stingers Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference Championship Team in 1982, and was named the Concordia Male Athlete of the Year in 1985. He was considered one of the greatest players ever to wear a Concordia Stingers uniform and was well-known for his aggressive play and speed which included running 40 yards in 4.89 seconds. After graduating from Concordia University, he caught the attention of several professional football teams, including the National Football League's New York Giants, but was eventually selected by the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Rough Riders in Round: 1 / Pick: 1 in the Canadian Football League Draft in 1985. He began playing professionally with the Canadian Football League's the Ottawa Rough Riders that same year. He played a total of five seasons with the Ottawa Rough Riders until the end of the 1989 season. He then joined with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and played five seasons with them until the end of the 1993 season. With the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he was a member of the 78th Grey Cup Winning Championship Team in 1990. The game which was played on November 25, 1990, at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeating the Edmonton Eskimos to a whopping 50-11. During this time he was coached by Mike Riley and his teammates included such greats as Steve Rodehutskors, Eric Streator, Tom Muecke, Leon Hatziioannou, Danny McManus, Quentin Riggins, and Warren Hudson. He lastly returned to the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Rough Riders and played with them for a few games during the 1994 season. He then called it quits and retired from playing professional football. His Canadian Football League career consists of 132 games played, 1 fumble return touchdowns, 6 points, 33 tackles, 6 defensive tackles, 2 fumbles recovered, 2 fumbles recovery yards, and 18 special team tackles. His other honors include winning the Frank M. Gibson Trophy in 1985, being named a Canadian Football League All-Star in 1988, being nominated for the Canadian Football League's East Division Schenley Outstanding Rookie Award in 1985, and being inducted into the Concordia University Sports Hall of Fame as a Player in 2005 and as a member of the Concordia Stingers Intercollegiate Football Conference Championship Team of 1982 posthumously in 2007 . After his retirement from football, he became a successful businessman and was Chairman of the Kidney Foundation of Manitoba's Golf Tournaments. He passed away following a lengthy battle with kidney disease in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the age of 46.