Sam "The Rifle" Etcheverry
(born: May 20, 1930, Carlsbad, New Mexico
, U.S.
– died:
August 29, 2009, Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
) was a
professional American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the
quarterback position, most famously with the
Montreal Alouettes of the
Canadian Football League, and was
named Canadian football's
Most Outstanding Player in
1954. Etcheverry's jersey #92 is one of seven
retired by the
Alouettes.
Etcheverry is a member of the
Canadian Football Hall of
Fame, and in 2006, was voted one of the
CFL's Top 50 players (#26) of the
league's modern era by Canadian sports network
TSN.
College career
Etcheverry was the son of Basque sheep farmers who emigrated to New
Mexico..
Known as "The Rifle", Etcheverry played for
the University of
Denver
from 1949 to 1951 where he still holds most of the
Pioneers' football
records for passing offense.
Professional football career
In 1952, Etcheverry joined the
Montreal Alouettes of the
Interprovincial Rugby
Football Union (which became part of the
Canadian Football League in 1958
and was renamed the
Eastern
Football Conference in 1960). As his team's
quarterback, he was twice voted "Most
Outstanding Player" of the eastern pro circuit and was named an
eastern all-star six times (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957,
1960). In 1954, Etcheverry was awarded the
Schenley Award (most
outstanding player in the
Canadian Rugby
Union).
Etcheverry set a single-game passing record of 586 yards in 1954
that stood for 39 years until the
1993
CFL season.
He also set a season passing record in 1954
of 3,610 yards that was not only a CFL record but also eclipsed the
NFL record set in the 1947 NFL season by Pro Football
Hall of Famer
Sammy Baugh of the
Washington Redskins.
Etcheverry still holds the record for most passing yards in a
Grey Cup game with 508 set in a loss to the
Edmonton Eskimos in the
1955 game.
A sports
icon in the city of Montreal, Quebec
, when Etcheverry and star receiver Hal Patterson were traded to the last-place
Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1960, it caused an enormous public outcry
and led to Etcheverry leaving the Canadian Football League and
signing with the St. Louis
Cardinals of the National
Football League, playing for St. Louis during
1961–62.
Coaching career
Etcheverry
returned to Canada in 1964 as
the head coach of the Quebec Rifles
of the United Football
League. The league folded at the end of the season and
Etcheverry remained out of coaching until 1967 when he became an
assistant at
Loyola
College in Montreal.
On December 9, 1969, Etcheverry was hired to coach the Alouettes.
In his first season, he lead the Als to victory in the
58th Grey Cup championship game. He resigned
at the end of the
1972 CFL season.
His overall record is 14–24–1.
In 1982 he became the general manager and president of the
Montreal Concordes. Etcheverry was fired
shortly before the start of the
1983
season and head coach
Joe Galat
replaced him as general manager.
Following the demise of the Concordes, Etcheverry joined a group
interested in bringing an NFL franchise to Montreal. He was one of
the group's representitives at the 1988 NFL owners meeting.
Awards and honours
Etcheverry was inducted into the
Canadian Football Hall of
Fame in 1969 and was an inaugural inductee into the
University of Denver Athletics
Hall of Fame upon its formation in 1996.
In November, 2006, Etcheverry was chosen 26th amongst the
CFL's 50 Greatest Players in a
TSN poll.
Death
Etcheverry died of
cancer in Montreal on
August 29, 2009..
References
- Canadian Press obituary
-
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VZcSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lfcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5573,2151501&dq=
-
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YTUOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s38DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3218,1297232&dq=
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qzAVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PfgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2975,2272592&dq
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RSgVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bvoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4872,6940411&dq
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NtIPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HI8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5812,8079302&dq
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http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473322391.html?dids=473322391:473322391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+11%2C+1988&author=AP&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Etcheverry+joins+group+seeking+NFL+franchise+for+Montreal&pqatl=google
-
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/470245881.html?dids=470245881:470245881&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+17%2C+1989&author=Chrys+Goyens+Special+to+The+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Montreal+a+step+closer+to+NFL%3F&pqatl=google
- Canadian Press obituary
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