Bruce Bennett, the Roughriders’ starting safety from 1966 to 1972, has died at age 77 of complications from pneumonia and COVID-19.
By Rob Vanstone – Jan 17, 2021
Saskatchewan Roughriders great Bruce Bennett, who as a rookie started at safety for the 1966 Grey Cup champions, died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia and COVID-19 in Ocala, Fla. He was 77.
Bennett, a 1991 inductee into the Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour, was a West all-star in each of his final six CFL seasons (1967 to 1972), earning All-Canadian honours in 1969.
He is third on the Roughriders’ all-time list in interceptions (35) and interception-return yards (606). He had a career-high eight interceptions in 1969 and 1971.
On Aug. 27, 1972 against the visiting Calgary Stampeders, Bennett registered the longest interception return in Roughriders history (112 yards).
He was released the following July when the Roughriders opted to go with Ted Provost, a former star at Ohio State, at safety. Provost played for the Roughriders from 1973 to 1977.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Bennett told Bob Hughes of the Regina Leader-Post on July 25, 1973. “That’s life. You can sort of tell what’s happening after eight years. It’s an intangible thing, but you just know.”
Regina’s Wayne Eaton kept in touch with Bennett after he left the Roughriders.
“Knowing him as a neighbour and then a friend, I loved his sense of humour and his devotion to his family,” Eaton said.
“His dedication to the Riders was evident in the way he spoke of his team. He never spoke badly of anyone. Even when he was cut from the Riders, he stated that every player had to face that fact sooner or later.
“He was sad to leave the Riders as they had an amazing camaraderie there, and he was sad to leave Regina as he, his wife and family had settled in so well. As we met occasionally over the next 50 years, he always had nothing but good to say about his years in Regina and being part of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.”
As an example, consider the reflections Bennett shared during a 2006 interview with the Leader-Post.
“There were some great things up there,” he said shortly before a 40th-anniversary reunion of the 1966 Grey Cup champions. “We made a lot of friends.
“I just enjoyed a lot of things — even the weather. I know that was the first thing that was kind of a shock to the system. During the time I played there, we lived there for five or six straight years. I remember the first winter we were there, it was something like 30 or 31 days of consecutive days under zero. I thought, ‘Wow …’
“I enjoyed the winters and the summers and going out to the lakes and everything. It was just an experience we enjoyed. We had a young family and they were enjoying it also.’’
Bennett was a two-way star at Valdosta High School, leading the Wildcats to undefeated records and Georgia state championships in his junior and senior years (1960 and 1961).
He earned high school All-American honours as a quarterback in Grade 12 while also playing in the defensive backfield.
In Bennett’s final high school game, he was the victorious quarterback in the state final despite burning his right (throwing) hand in a kitchen accident at home the previous day.
Bennett’s next stop was the University of Florida, where he played quarterback and safety on the Gators’ freshman team.
He made the varsity squad as a sophomore in 1963, starting at safety and backing up at quarterback.
When Bennett was a junior, the NCAA enacted a rule that prevented players from seeing duty on both sides of the ball. Bennett then became exclusively a defensive back because Florida’s roster also included future Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier.
Bennett, who had 13 interceptions over three seasons with the Gators, was a first-team All-American in 1965. He was a member of the all-SEC team in 1964 and 1965.
“Bruce became a footnote in the school’s history as one of the first people ever to taste Gatorade as it was being developed by the university and tested on the football team,” reads a portion of an obituary prepared by the University of Florida.
Despite Bennett’s excellence as a collegian, many NFL teams were deterred by his size — a modest 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds — whereas the Roughriders made an aggressive pitch.
“The St. Louis Cardinals invited me up to play there, but the Roughriders offered me more money than the Cardinals did,’’ Bennett said in 2006.
“At the time, the exchange was weighted in favour of the Canadian dollar, so I figured I was making a lot more money by going to Canada. It was several thousand dollars’ bonus and a little in the contract. It was like $12,000, and I thought, ‘I’m stealing from them.’ Times have changed a little bit.’’
As a Roughrider, Bennett was also able to put his quarterbacking skills to good use.
After Ron Lancaster injured an ankle in an Oct. 2, 1966 home game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the versatile Bennett was next at quarterback. The Roughriders salvaged an 11-11 tie, thanks in part to a one-yard touchdown by Bennett on a quarterback sneak.
Six days later, with Lancaster still sidelined, Bennett made his only CFL start as a quarterback — completing seven of 11 passes for 29 yards, including a short touchdown toss to tight end Jim Worden — in a game Saskatchewan lost 35-18 to the visiting Stampeders.
Saskatchewan capped that season by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 to win the first championship in franchise history. Bennett later played for the Roughriders in the 1967, 1969 and 1972 Grey Cup games.
In what turned out to be Bennett’s final game as a Roughrider, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats posted a 13-10 victory in the 1972 Grey Cup on a 34-yard, last-play field goal by Ian Sunter.
“You can always look back and say there were seven other teams that would have liked to have been in the Grey Cup,” Bennett said. “We were there. I played there seven years and we were in the Grey Cup four times. We had a good time.
“One year (1970, when the Roughriders posted a 14-2 record), I thought we had the best team and we didn’t even make it to the Grey Cup. We had a good run there. Eagle Keys had been there and Ron Lancaster and George Reed and Hughie Campbell and all the stars were there. They were just good football players.
“The thing about the Roughriders is that we were kind of a family. We were a closely knit group of players. After games, we’d all get together at somebody’s house and celebrate the victories or cry over the defeats. It was a good relationship there. Those are things you remember. It was a good career, and I couldn’t have picked a better one.’’
Another one of the memories included an interaction with royalty.
“A humble man, Bruce had a literal touch with history while with the Roughriders though he wouldn’t be the first to bring it up,” read a portion of the University of Florida’s obituary. “He shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II.
“On a visit to Canada, the queen attended a Roughriders game and made the coin toss. As team co-captain, Bruce was on the field for that. He knew not to touch the queen, but she offered a handshake and he took it. That might make him the only person from Valdosta who has touched the queen of England.”
Bennett remained involved with football following his time in Saskatchewan, becoming a successful high school and college coach in Florida and Georgia.
Of particular note are the 10 years he spent as the head coach at Ware County High School in Waycross, Ga.
“I just enjoy it,” Bennett said in 2006 when asked about his passion for coaching. “I’m just thankful I get an opportunity to do something I enjoy doing. So many people get up in the morning and are not always excited about going to work. I get up every day and I’m happy to go.
“I think it’s just working with people. You have a chance to take young people and have an influence on their life and show them some values that they need to carry through life. A lot of times, it’s a lot easier to do it through athletics than other ways. It’s an opportunity to really touch a lot of young kids.’’
At Ware County, Bennett coached running back Tim McCray, who would be named the Roughriders’ most outstanding player during their championship season of 1989. McCray joined Bennett in the Plaza of Honour in 2015.
“I coached him in high school for four years,” Bennett recalled in 2006. “He was the only freshman I had on the team. It gave you kind of a warm feeling to think that somebody you had worked with had gone and won the same championship.”
Bennett is a member of the Waycross-Ware County Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was named to the Gainesville Sun’s Florida Gator All-Century Team.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Starling, three sons (Bill, Bob and Brad), and nine grandchildren. Brad was born in Regina.
rvanstone@postmedia.com
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VIA: https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/the-late-bruce-bennett-remembered-for-dedication-to-saskatchewan-roughriders
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