8 HAMILTON CELEBRATES CENTENNIAL WITH By Brian Snelgrove

The country was in the throes of a a lot of good guys centennial celebration and the Hamilton on that team. T Tiger-Cats were putting together one of Dave Fleming was the most impressive seasons in their long and something else. He storied history. The year was 1967 and Bobby was a real motiva- Gimby had Canadians singing “Ca-na-da” tor. from coast-to-coast. Hamilton and their fans was a gentleman. celebrated the national bash as the Tiger-Cats A great football won the 55th Grey Cup by a lopsided score of player and a great 24-1 over Saskatchewan. person. He and Hal The Tiger-Cats finished the regular season Patterson were very in top spot in the East with a record of 10-4. much alike. They knocked off the “It was different in those days,” adds Zuger, by a combined 37-3 in the two-game total who has lived at the top of Hamilton mountain “The ’67 team was the best team defen- point Eastern Final to advance to the Grey since 1965. “When (Jim) Trimble hired me he sively I played for in Hamilton,” adds Fleming Cup against the Western ‘Riders. In one of the said ‘the more you can do, the better chance who spent 10 seasons with the Ticats. “Our stingiest stretches of defense in CFL history, you got.’ That motivated me to play both defense was scary. Mosca and I were room- Hamilton, incredibly, didn’t surrender a single offense and defense and kick. I took a lot of mates for nine seasons.” touchdown in their final six contests. The team pride in that. I also remember our string of “I came out of retirement that year,” says boasted some of the best players in Tiger-Cat victories (six) at the of the season.” Ron Brewer. “Mosca and said history including John Barrow, , “We had 12 players and all worked as to Sazio, ‘If you want to win the Grey Cup, Garney Henley, Herb Paterra, Tommy Joe one unit,” says former running back Willie sign Ron Brewer and he did, Brewer adds with Coffey, Bob Krouse, Billy Ray Locklin, Smokey Bethea, who still lives in Hamilton. “The other a laugh. He turned out to be right. We lost our Stover, , , , teams couldn’t beat us. We shared the ball first game. We didn’t want to lose any games. Dave Fleming, , Ellison Kelly, Ted with the receivers and backs and used our There was a good camaraderie and a mature Watkins, Ron Brewer and Tommy Grant. running backs to catch a lot of passes. We all respect on that team. Ralph was a good coach. “We started off the season a little slow but participated – Zuger, Henley, Dave Fleming, I enjoyed him immensely. gained momentum as the year went on,” says Dick Cohee, to name a few. “I’d spent ten years in the league and Krouse who resides in Grimsby, . “Ralph “Saskatchewan was a good team. They had nothing was going to get in the way of us (Sazio) was a different type of coach. He George Reed. He did everything. Lancaster was winning the Grey Cup,” adds Brewer who now was very defensive-oriented. We had a lot of good in the West but I think our defense was lives in Burlington. I played middle guard different defenses and it was a lot of fun. just too tough.” and linebacker in that game. I don’t think “There weren’t as many guys on a team “We had a heckuva team in those days,” Saskatchewan had any idea who they were back then,” Krouse adds. “It was tighter and Bethea adds. “We thought we could go playing. That ’67 team was a perfect balance. guys contributed more. It was a great team. undefeated.” If somebody went down there was always Playing with guys like Hal Patterson and “It was very cold, says Dave Fleming of somebody else to step in.” Garney Henley. It was an unbelievable season. the ’67 Grey Cup. “We couldn’t figure out what Both the 1957 and 1967 Grey Cup Champion As for the Grey Cup, Krouse says, “It was a shoes to wear. There was solid ice just below Tiger-Cat teams will be honoured at Hamilton’s tough game. We were in control. What they the surface. Ed Chalupka had the best idea – he home game against the on were doing wasn’t working. I know Lancaster just wore regular cleats. The cold weather September 30. and some of their guys were very frustrated. didn’t stop us. Saskatchewan was one of the Once we got our offence going, Zuger got us best teams I ever played against. They didn’t going and we were ok.” make mistakes. They played the game with no Brian Snelgrove is a life-long fan of the CFL “I remember the field was brutal,” says cheap shots and no yapping back and forth. If and has written extensively for the CFL, 1967 Grey Cup MVP Joe Zuger. “We tried you made a mistake you paid for it. I remember the CFL Alumni Association, the Hamilton broomball shoes but when you tried to cut Ralph (Sazio) said, ‘We’ll give them one point Tiger-Cats as well as the Official Grey Cup the rubber would peel off the shoes. We had and that’s it.’ He turned out to be right. magazine.