Bombers to honour legend Brock

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/09/2016 (3374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Legendary pivot Dieter Brock will be inducted into the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ring of Honour Saturday afternoon.

Brock, who spent a decade with the club from 1974 to 1983 and who is the team’s all-time passing yardage and passing touchdown leader, will be the fifth member added to the Ring of Honour, which is located just above suite level at Investors Group Field. The ceremony will take place at halftime of the Banjo Bowl against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Brock joins Chris Walby, Ken Ploen, Gerry James and Milt Stegall in the team’s Ring of Honour, which is designed to pay homage to the club’s past.

The Blue Bombers will induct four more members this season, one at each home game, followed by one more name each year going forward.

“It’s just unbelievable and I’m thrilled to death about it,” Brock said in a release from the club Wednesday.

“Honestly, being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame is great, but this is much more than that to me. I couldn’t be more honoured to be in the company of the guys that are up there. This really tops it for me as the greatest thrill.”

Brock, 65, is the only Bomber to be named as the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player twice — in 1980 and 1981.

Nicknamed the Birmingham Rifle, the Birmingham, Ala., native’s 29,623 passing yards still hold up as a franchise record, as do his 177 career passing touchdowns.

In 1981, the two-time CFL all-star broke Sam Etcheverry’s 1956 record for passing yards in a season with 4,796 yards.

‘I couldn’t be more honoured to be in the company of the guys that are up there. This really tops it for me as the greatest thrill’– Dieter Brock

Brock was inducted into the Blue Bombers Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.