Former Hamilton Tiger-Cats star Brandon Banks unveiled as 2026 Hall of Fame inductee

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had quite the surprise for Brandon Banks on Thursday night.

The Ticats announced that Banks, the CFL's outstanding player in 2019, will be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame this fall. It came during a stoppage in play in the second quarter of the '26 season opener between Hamilton and the Montreal Alouettes.

On Wednesday, Banks signed a one-day contract with Hamilton to retire a Ticat and was in attendance for Thursday's game.

The CFL Hall of Fame is located inside Hamilton Stadium.

Banks, 38, will be inducted Sept. 17. The remainder of the '26 class will be named at a later date.

The five-foot-seven, 155-pound Banks, who earned his nickname Speedy B honestly, played eight of his nine Hall of Fame seasons in Canada with Hamilton (2013-2019, 2021) before finishing his career with the Toronto Argonauts (2022).

Banks holds the CFL record for missed field-goal return touchdowns (five) and ranks third all-time with 13 kick-return TDs. He earned the CFL's outstanding player award in 2019 after leading the league in receptions (112), receiving yards (1,550) and receiving touchdowns (13), all of which were also career highs.

Banks, the CFL's top special-teams player in 2015, holds the Ticats' all-time records for kickoff return yards (3,773), punt return yards (3,049) and missed field-goal return yards (779). He's also second in total touchdowns (62), combined yards (13,686), and punt return touchdowns (seven).

Banks was a CFL all-star four times and an East Division selection on six occasions.

About the only accomplishment Banks didn't record in Hamilton was playing on a Grey Cup-winning team. But he came precariously close to delivering the Ticats their first CFL title since '99, a