THE CANADIAN PRESS
They say the older you get, the greater you were but in the case of the 1966 Saskatchewan Roughriders, they’ve always been great. And this Saturday when the current Saskatchewan Roughriders host the BC Lions in Week 4 of CFL action, the 1966 Grey Cup champion Rider squad will be honoured and recognized on the 50-year anniversary of their championship as part of the Riders’ Farewell Season.
In 2006, the Roughriders hosted members of this team on their 40-year anniversary and it was thought that would be the last reunion.
And now they’re back again. What a gift!
So over a period of a couple of days this weekend, the tales and memories will be flowing as fans and players alike recall the province’s first-ever CFL championship on Nov. 26, 1966, and what a big deal it was.
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Darian Durant and Curtis Steele during Week 3 action in Edmonton (Walter Tychnowicz/CFL.ca)
Those players are all heroes – legends of the gridiron – but one player stands out above them all and that’s the great George Reed who was the MVP in that 29-14 Saskatchewan win over Ottawa at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium. He remembers it like it was yesterday.
“When you look at the 1966 game, it was a different game,” Reed recalled on CKRM’s SportsCage this week. “And what I mean by that is we were quite uptight before the game. I think the greatest thing to happen was for kicker Jack Abendschan to go out (during introductions) and fall in the mud! It became funny then and it just loosened everybody up and we were ready to play the football game.
“Everybody had written us off. Everybody had talked us off. We had nothing to lose but to go out and play the football game and that’s what we did. But I really believe when Jack fell in the mud, that was the turning point.”
Not a lot of us were around in 1966 but I’ve long been fascinated by the players’ stories and watching the grainy CBC video of the game. The Roughriders have only four Grey Cup wins to their credit in 105 years of football so we cherish each and every one of them, and you can imagine what a big deal it was to win the first after the province waited 56 years for a title. The wait had to have been agonizing.
“To me, as I tell people, the game was important to the guys in the dressing room simply because we were able to go out and win a game and the game happened to be the biggest game on the slate. So we had accomplished that,” Reed remembered.
“But to me, the biggest thing was for Saskatchewan to win it. There was little ol’ Regina, and throw in Saskatoon and all the other small communities, and we were able to accomplish something. That was the greatest reward for me; to be able to win it for the province. It wasn’t for me, or the guys on the team because we accomplished what we wanted to by winning; it was for the Province of Saskatchewan.”
To me, the biggest thing was for Saskatchewan to win it. There was little ol’ Regina, and throw in Saskatoon and all the other small communities, and we were able to accomplish something.
George Reed
George Reed is honoured before a game in 1973 (The Canadian Press)
Unfortunately, this special group of alumni is dwindling. Only 17 of the 32 players on that team will be returning to Regina this weekend for obvious reasons. The most-notable by his absence will be the Greatest Roughrider Of ‘Em All, Ron Lancaster, who passed away in 2008.
“It’s gonna be difficult,” George winced. “The last time we got together (in 2006) Ronnie was here but he had to leave early because there was a shake-up in Hamilton. It’s going to be quite different, especially not having him here. There will be a couple other guys that can’t make it or have passed away but Ronnie will be the one that I will miss the most. The fans too.
“He’s still up on the side of the stadium, his picture’s still inside the stadium, and he’s still very much in peoples’ minds. The older people know him but the young kids do too. They all know about him.”
What a legacy to have. And again, the 1966 Grey Cup game itself will be discussed endlessly this weekend and there’s really no spicing that needs to be added. The Eastern Riders jumped out to an early lead on a Whit Tucker touchdown reception from Russ Jackson before the Riders tied it on a Jim Worden TD reception from Lancaster. The teams traded touchdowns again in the second quarter before Ottawa led 15-14 at the half.
The Green Rider defence pitched a shutout over the final 30 minutes and touchdowns from Hugh Campbell and George Reed, along with a rouge from Alan Ford, sealed the deal for the Green and White for a 29-14 victory. Cue the victory party!
“The funny part was, as the game goes on, and we win the game, and we go into the locker room after, they were scrambling to get the champagne, the Grey Cup and all the TV cameras into our locker room because everything was over on Ottawa’s side!” Reed laughed. “Some reporter asked Ronnie something and he said, ‘Hey, all we want is to have our two stinking beers and we’ll be the happiest guys in the world. We’re from Saskatchewan and we’re not used to that fancy stuff so give us our two beers and let’s go!’
“That was our guys’ mentality. ‘The game’s over, where’s our beer?’ You had guys like Bill Clarke, Ron Atchison, Garner Ekstran and all they wanted was their beer. That was the only thing that was important! I just sat back and watched and it was quite amazing. We’re just here, little country boys, who came in and took out big city Ottawa and we’re the champs.”
Ron Lancaster hands the ball off to George Reed during the ’66 Grey Cup (The Canadian Press)
Just writing about it and listening to George makes us think we were right there with them! What a great feeling it must have been.
And this weekend we’ll able to celebrate all this history and the Rider Nation will be able to salute these players for what will likely be the last time.
“I don’t think about it being 50 years since the Grey Cup,” George concluded. “I feel like it was just a few years ago. Sometimes I have to take myself back and remember how long it was. It was a great time, time has gone by, but I still enjoy going to the games, enjoy working and I still enjoy myself.
“That’s the best part about it.”
