Mike O'Shea was an impact player in the CFL from the moment he arrived in 1993 out of the University of Guelph. The impact could have been for the Edmonton Eskimos who made him their first pick (fourth overall) in the 1993 CFL college draft, but instead it was for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts. Before the 1993 season started, O'Shead was traded to Hamilton along with quarterback DeChance Cameron, linebacker DeWayne Odem and a player off th enegotiation list for quarterback Damon Allen. O'Shea would play three seasons in Hamilton in his first stint in the steel city, winning both an East All-Star honour and being named the CFL's Outstanding Rookie in 1993. O'Shea would go on to win another East All-Star in 1994 and a North All-Star in 1995 before becoming a free agent and signing with the Detroit Lions of the NFL.
O'Shea was released by the Lions after trainng camp and returned to the CFL as a free agent and signed with the Toronto Argonauts, playing 8 games to finish out the 1996 season. Those were the Doug Flutie years in Toronto and O'Shea won a pair of Grey Cups in 1996 aand 1997 with the Argos. O'Shea would also add his fourth division All-Star with a selection in 1997. In 1999, O'Shead would add a fifth East All-Star to his collection and his only CFL All-Star.
A surprise trade saw O'Shea return to Hamilton in 2000 as the Tiger-cats sent defensive backOrlando Steinauer, Canadian running back Eric LaPointe and a first round draft pick in 2001 to Toronto in exchange for O'Shea. O'Shea certainly didn't disapoint in Hamilton with 90 defensive tackles and his sixth and last East All-Star selection at linebacker. O'Shea's heart was in Toronto though and as a free agent after the 2000 season, he resigned with the Argonauts where he played another eight seasons in double blue.
One of the biggest impacts that O'Shea had on the game was proving that a Canadian could play the sacred middle linebacker spot that was almost always reserved for imports. A fact that didn't go unoticed by other teams who began to seek out and utilize capable homebrews at that spot. The middle linebacker is still the primary defence against athe running attack and O'Shea's career stats show that with 1151 career defensive tackles, currently (as of 2012) the second best total in the history of the leageue behind only hall of famer Willie Pless. Besides those impressive tackle stats, you can add 11 career fumble recoveries, 22 career interceptions, 30, career quarterback sacks and 43 career tackles for losses and 25 forced fumbles.
Following his playing career, O'Shea took up coaching in 2010 as an assist coach with the Argonauts.
Mike O'Shea of the Toronto Argonauts on CFL Scrapbook
| Year | Team | GP | T | ST | Total | TFL | Yds | KD | Sacks | Yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | HAM | 18 | 75 | 11 | 86 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 29 |
| 1994 | HAM | 18 | 95 | 11 | 106 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | HAM | 12 | 69 | 4 | 73 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | TOR | 8 | 24 | 10 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | TOR | 18 | 44 | 30 | 74 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 36 |
| 1998 | TOR | 18 | 64 | 19 | 83 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 58 |
| 1999 | TOR | 18 | 84 | 13 | 97 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | HAM | 18 | 90 | 13 | 103 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 2001 | TOR | 18 | 62 | 7 | 69 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2002 | TOR | 18 | 81 | 14 | 95 | 6 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2003 | TOR | 18 | 90 | 8 | 98 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 17 |
| 2004 | TOR | 18 | 89 | 9 | 98 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| 2005 | TOR | 17 | 71 | 5 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | TOR | 18 | 68 | 5 | 73 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | TOR | 18 | 77 | 4 | 81 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| 2008 | TOR | 18 | 68 | 6 | 74 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Year | Team | Int | Yds | Avg | TDInt | Long | FR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1994 | HAM | 5 | 41 | 8.2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | HAM | 2 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | TOR | 2 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | TOR | 1 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1998 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1999 | TOR | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2000 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2001 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2002 | TOR | 3 | 70 | 23.3 | 0 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003 | TOR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 48 | 1 | 48 | 2 |
| 2004 | TOR | 3 | 81 | 27 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2005 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| 2006 | TOR | 2 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2007 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2008 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Team | KOR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | TOR | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 1997 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | TOR | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 2000 | HAM | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2001 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
