Canadian Football Players Who Gained Fame In Other Fields
The CFL exhibition season starts on Monday at 3 PM Eastern when Saskatchewan visits Calgary. Football Archaeology readers in Canada already know how to access the televised games, while those in other countries can access them and other games this season at cfl.ca/plus.
Instead of covering the exploits of the Bud Grants, Joe Theismans, Warren Moons, or other imports, this story honors our latitudinally-enhanced neighbors who played Canadian high school football and went pro in fields other than the exceptionally large gridirons they toiled on during their school days. And, since they played three-down football, we’ll cover three of Canada’s native sons today, leaving others for future stories.
If You Could Read My Defense
Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot penned several #1 hits in the 1960s and 1970s, some of which became famous when sung by other artists, though most we heard in his voice. If You Could Read My Mind (1970), Sundown (1974), and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976) were among his top hits.
Others have noted that Lightfoot played high school football at Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (ODCVI), which sits 100 miles north of Toronto. Supposedly, he played nose guard, though I could not find any period documentation of his gridiron career. I did find a profile from his high school yearbook and an image showing him on the high school track team.
What a Long Strange Trek its Been
Before William Shatner became famous for boldly going where no man had gone until Captain James T. Kirk explored strange new worlds, he was Bill Shatner at West Hills High in Montreal.
Shatner’s high school had two football teams, an A team and a B team, and he played on the B team, which suggests he was a lesser player.
Despite limited high school success, he mentioned in a 2016 interview that he also played football during his early days at McGill University. His McGill senior bio mentions only his participation in intramural sports.
Still, the guy in the middle of the top row of McGill’s 1949 intermediate (JV) football team sure looks like a young Shatner.
Uncle Buck Sweep
Last, but certainly not least, is John Candy, who grew up in the Toronto suburbs as an Argonauts fan. Always a big fella, he started playing football while attending Neil McNeil High, where he was the student council treasurer and starting left tackle until a knee injury ended his playing career.
Candy’s passion for football and his hometown Argos was reignited in 1991 when he partnered with Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky, by buying a minority ownership in the Argonauts. That year, the team signed Rocket Ishmael to a contract and won the Grey Cup, with Ishmael being the game’s MVP. The video below is a tribute to Candy and the 1991 Argonauts season.
If you have not done so yet, bookmark the cfl.ca/plus link and give the old game a try this season. You’ll see another CFL-themed story on Sunday.
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