Q&A with Tony Proudfoot

CFL.ca: You’ve been a player and a broadcaster for several decades with the CFL… what is your best memory as a player and what is your best memory from the broadcast booth?

TP: The Grey Cup experiences were the best. I still bond with players from those teams. 1974 and 77 were winning teams and 75, 78 and 79 we were in the big game, but lost. I visited Junior Ah You in Hawaii last winter, and hadn't seen him in 30 years. We had a great time together reminiscing about our glory years.

Since the Alouettes have been to six out of the last eight Grey Cup I always get to be a part of the broadcast team, which is a thrill. Also, hanging around during Grey Cup week with the media people who know how to have a good time.

CFL.ca: As a Grey Cup champion, what are some of your favourite Grey Cup memories as a player?

TP: Both years we won the Grey Cup with Montreal I/we stole the Grey Cup after the game. In 74 I took it from the owner’s (Sam Berger) room at the Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver and brought it back to my room where my friends and I filled it with booze and enjoyed drinking from it. In 77 a group of players stole it from the reception suite at the hotel and took it to Sir Winston Churchill bar on Crescent Street. You should have seen the pandemonium in that place. Dan Yochum and I stood on the bar and gave drinks to all the patrons for hours. The owner, Derek Johnson, kept buying champagne to fill up the cup

CFL.ca: As a member of the media, you witnessed several Grey Cup games – do any stories or events stick out in your mind today?

TP: Last year’s Grey Cup was held in Toronto and the city put on a great show. Most of the events were held in the convention center so it was easy to connect with everyone. There was always something going on in the (Football Reporters of Canada) media suite, which seemed to be open for business 24 hours every day. But some stories need to stay in the media suite… nuf said!

CFL.ca: What does it mean to you and to the city to have the 2008 Grey Cup championship game here in Montreal?

TP: It's the best thrill for everyone, players, fans and the city in general. I played for Montreal in 1977 when we won the Grey Cup in front of 68,318 hometown fans at the Big O and it was non-stop partying for the city the whole winter. I don't think I bought a drink that year.

CFL.ca: In May, 2007 you were diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). How this diagnosis affected your involvement with the CFL?

TP: I have been both lucky and cursed. I was diagnosed in May, 2007 and continued broadcasting Montreal Alouettes games on CJAD radio, but with my slurred speech. But by the end of the year my voice had deteriorated to the point that I could no longer continue.

I coached the Alouettes during training camp this year but realized I did not have the energy or voice to do a good enough job for the entire season. I have kept up with the CFL and Alouettes football by writing a blog on CJAD.com and writing the occasional football article in the Montreal Gazette. I am currently looking for other writing opportunities as it looks like this will be the only way I can stay involved.

I have the strain of the disease that only the muscles that control my speaking, swallowing and breathing are affected. This has allowed me to be active and continue to do the things I love. But on the other hand, you need to breathe and eat. It's becoming a real frustrating hassle losing my voice, considering I have spent my entire life as a teacher and broadcaster. I am trying to find more opportunities to write. I am hoping to write a second book on the CFL, focusing on the role of the coaches in the game.

CFL.ca: What are some of the common misconceptions about ALS?

TP: The biggest problem is that there is very little hope. All the patients die, 90% in the first 4-5 years. People don't know much about the disease because the patients die off so quickly and they just disappear from our awareness. Because of that there is little national awareness and consequently not enough research money spent on finding the cause, treatments or cure – a sad really for the patients and their families.

What we need is for some major multi-national CEO to see it as his/her responsibility to do something about it, kicking in $10-$20 million over a ten year period. If things stay the same they may never find a cure ($1.6 million was spent on ALS research in Canada last year compared to over $500 million on Cancer).

CFL.ca: What can fans and friends do to help support people affected by ALS?

TP: What can fans and friends do to help support people affected by ALS? Find out more about the disease, start small fundraising initiatives on their own. Contact the ALS society in their province for information; www.als.ca is a good place to start. ALS Quebec has set up a Tony Proudfoot Fund that has generated $350,000 in the last year and if someone wants to contribute they can go to www.sla-quebec.ca and go to the Tony Proudfoot Fund link.