By Rob Vanstone Regina Leader-Post
Reflections upon the inception of the Saskatchewan Roughriders led to the birth of a survey.
The franchise’s 110th anniversary provided the impetus for a celebration of individuals who have figured prominently since the Regina Rugby Club (RRC) debuted on Oct. 1, 1910.
With the milestone in mind, I contacted two Roughriders historians — Bob Calder of Saskatoon and Tom Fuzesy of Regina — whose exhaustive research dates back to Day 1, when the Moose Jaw Tigers defeated the RRC 16-6 at the Moose Jaw Baseball Grounds (near where the city’s public library is now located).
Their instantaneous co-operation has led to 11 top-10 polls, which will eventually list (appropriately enough) 110 names in commemoration of the Roughriders’ birthday.
On a periodic basis in the days and weeks to come, we will rank the team’s top 10 quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, special-teams players, builders, and players from the early era (1910 to 1945). To conclude the series, we will rank the top 10 players in Roughriders history.
Bob, Tom and yours truly listed 10 people in each category. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth nine, etc.
Without further preamble, let’s begin with a ranking of the quarterbacks. Point totals are in parentheses.
1. Ron Lancaster (30): The Little General received the highest possible score, which is hardly surprising when you consider his contributions. A brief biography here hardly does him justice. As the Roughriders’ starting quarterback from 1963 to 1978, The Little General rewrote the record book. He became the CFL’s all-time passing-yardage leader in 1971 — and played for seven more years! He was, of course, the starting quarterback when Saskatchewan captured its first Grey Cup title, in 1966, and he was twice named the league’s most outstanding player (1970, 1976). Hence the statue, beside that of George Reed, outside Mosaic Stadium.
2. Darian Durant (26):Durant or Kent Austin for No. 2? We could have surveyed 30,000 people and it still would have been close. “Doubles” gets the nod by one point after receiving two second-place votes and being listed as third on the other ballot. The difference, at least to this voter, was that Durant guided Saskatchewan to a rare first-place finish (2009) and three Grey Cup berths (2009, 2010, 2013), including a landmark home-field victory in the latter championship game. “I never saw a CFL quarterback play with such intensity and so well through the playoffs as Durant did in 2013,” Calder says.
3. Kent Austin (25): Austin was the best player in the best Grey Cup ever played — the Roughriders’ 43-40 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 26, 1989. He threw for 474 yards and three touchdowns and also directed a last-minute drive that was punctuated by Dave Ridgway’s game-winning field goal. Over the next four seasons, Austin threw for 20,720 yards and 125 touchdowns. In 1992, he set Roughriders single-season records for aerial yards (6,225) and touchdown passes (35). The year before, he had thrown a team-record six touchdown passes in one game.
4. Kerry Joseph (18): Joseph enjoyed a storybook 2007 season, in which he was named the CFL’s most outstanding player before quarterbacking Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup victory. And who can forget the game-winning quarterback draw in the 2007 Labour Day Classic?
5: Frank Tripucka (17):“The Tripper” threw for at least 2,000 yards — an eye-popping total at the time — from 1954 to 1958, inclusive. He peaked at 3,274 yards in 1956.
6. Glenn Dobbs (16):“The Dobber” threw 28 touchdown passes in 14 games during his phenomenal debut season of 1951. Regina was quickly dubbed “Dobberville.”
7. Tom Burgess (9):In addition to posting team-leading touchdown-pass totals of 19 (in 1988), 22 (1989) and 19 (1994), Burgess came off the bench after Austin was injured and threw two TD passes to help Saskatchewan defeat Edmonton 32-21 in the 1989 West Division final.
8. Henry Burris (6):“Smilin’ Hank” threw for 4,647 yards and 30 TDs (in 2000) and followed up four years later with 4,267 yards and 23 TDs (2004).
9. Piffles Taylor (6): Neil J. (Piffles) Taylor was “a shrewd and masterful field general,” in the words of Calder, for the RRC in the pre-forward-pass era. Taylor Field was named in his honour in 1947.
10. Kevin Glenn (5): A three-time Roughrider, a la Tripucka, Glenn threw for 4,038 yards and 25 TDs in 2017.
Also receiving votes:Cody Fajardo (4), Joe Paopao (2), Bob Ptacek (1).
“Based on one year of play, Fajardo is better than some of the guys on the list,” Calder says. “If he stays around for a lengthy career, he might go very near the top.”
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