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Fading History, vol. 1

Teddy Morris, page 2

by dc

Teddy launched a spectacular career with Toronto in 1931. During his nine years of stardom as a player with Toronto, he paced the squad to three Canadian Championships. In 1937, Teddy was presented with the Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy as the outstanding player in the Inter-Provincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU), known then as the Big Four. Former Canadian Football League statistician, Gord Walker Sr. once said Teddy Morris was “ounce for ounce, the toughest player ever. The Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy was presented in those days to the player who possessed the highest qualifications of courage, fair play and sportsmanship. Morris had them all.”

Other honours bestowed on Teddy Morris during his playing career included being voted by the Canadian Football League writers of the time to the All-Argonaut Team in 1941. He was honoured by the Canadian Press sports writers by being voted to the annual All-Star Team five times from 1933 to 1936 and again in 1938. He was selected as the All-Eastern Running Back three times ( 1933-34-36) and the All Eastern Flying Wing twice (1935 and 38). He was also the first person to use a forward pass in Canadian football.

Teddy played with the Grey Cup-winning Argos in 1933 when the Boatmen defeated Sarnia 4-3. It was the only Grey Cup ever played in the blue water country located on the shores of Lake Huron. The game was played on a frozen, snow-covered field.

In 1937, they picked off Winnipeg 4-3, giving the Argos another narrow victory. It was the year the expression ‘Argo Bounce’ was coined. Bud Marquardt blocked an attempted punt and he and Teddy Morris raced for the ball with Teddy taking possession when it bounced into his hands. In 1938, the Argos and Winnipeg met for the second consecutive year and the Argos defeated Winnipeg by a sensational 30-7 score.


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