By Rob Vanstone
Jan 07, 2023
Former Saskatchewan Roughriders punter Martin Fabi, who set two CFL single-game records in 1963, died on Thursday at age 80.
Former Saskatchewan Roughriders punter Martin Fabi — the owner of two long-standing CFL records — died Thursday. He was 80.
On Sept. 14, 1963, Fabi established league standards for punts (18) and punting yards (814) in a single game.
Fabi’s workload, which produced an average of 45.2 yards per punt, was understandable in light of the score — Roughriders 4, Calgary Stampeders 4. One of his punts resulted in a single.
Saskatchewan managed only four first downs — one in each quarter — and 73 yards of total offence.
Roughriders quarterbacks Lee Grosscup and Bob Ptacek combined for two completions in 12 attempts for 16 yards at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium.
Earlier that season, Fabi’s punting had been the difference in a 5-3 victory over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The game was tied 3-3 in the fourth quarter before Fabi punted for singles of 60 and 63 yards.
Then 20, Fabi averaged 44.3 yards on 11 punts during the game — the first in Roughriders history with Ron Lancaster starting at quarterback.
“Fabi probably isn’t old enough to vote yet, but he’s a tried and tested pro in my book,” the Regina Leader-Post‘s John Robertson wrote in the Aug. 16, 1963 edition.
“When he bobbled the snap-back on a punt attempt in the third quarter when the Roughriders had moved in close enough for a possible winning single, I truly thought it would shatter him for the evening.
“But he bounced back to hoist two beauties which went so high they came down with frost on them.”
Fabi had joined the Roughriders in September of 1962 after being claimed for the $350 waiver price from the Montreal Alouettes, with whom he had played in three games as a 19-year-old rookie.
Over the next three seasons, he punted 339 times for a 42.9-yard average. His best season was 1963, when he averaged 44.0 yards per punt and recorded 15 singles.
He also saw some duty as a receiver, catching 15 passes for 244 yards over three seasons in Saskatchewan.
Post-CFL, Fabi had a long association with Livingston International, a warehousing firm, and eventually ascended to the presidency of the company in 1981.
In 1990, Fabi was named the president and CEO of GN Johnston Equipment. He retired in 2002 and continued to live in the Guelph area with his wife, Katherine.
Fabi was born in Romania, but his family fled to Austria in 1944 after his father (Martin Sr.) was killed in the Second World War. The Fabis moved to Canada in 1953 and settled in Alymer, Ont.
Randy Fabi, Martin’s son, was born in Regina. The younger Fabi was a receiver in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1986 to 1990) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1991).
VIA: https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/former-saskatchewan-roughriders-punter-martin-fabi-dies-at-80
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