From Blink to the Sheriff, these five running backs earned their place in Bomber history

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/10/2014 (4061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blink. Lincoln Locomotive. Fritz. Kid Dynamite and Sheriff. You can’t go wrong with any of the greats in Blue Bombers running back history.

Charles (Blink) Roberts, Leo (The Lincoln Locomotive) Lewis, Melvin (Fritz) Hanson. Gerry (Kid Dynamite) James and Willard (Sheriff) Reaves make up the class of five running backs our panel has chosen for voters to choose from for the All-Time Blue Bombers Team.

We’re now into our fifth week of the voting and the team looks like a world-beater.

Voters have selected Ken Ploen as the quarterback, Chris Walby as the offensive lineman, Greg Battle as the linebacker, Bob Cameron as the kicker and Leo Lewis as the kick returner of the Free Press/TSN 1290 All-Time Bombers Team. This week it’s your turn to select a running back for the team.

Bud Grant and our panel have had their say. Now you get to weigh in.

We’re presenting a position each week over a nine-week period with our panel’s choices of the top-five Winnipeg Blue Bombers to ever play for the club at that spot.

Cast your vote at alltimebombers.winnipegfreepress.com or see the ballot on page B3 of the paper edition.

On Friday afternoons at 4 p.m., live on TSN 1290’s Hustler and Lawless program, the Free Press and TSN 1290 websites, as well as the Saturday edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, we’ll announce the winner and member of the All-Time Bombers Team.

The Free Press print and digital editions and tsn1290.ca will run stories every Monday putting forth the position of the week and finalists selected by our panel. Voting will take place on both websites.

Legendary Blue Bombers player and coach Bud Grant headlines our panel. Grant was joined by former Bombers player and GM Paul Robson, Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee and Free Press sports reporter Ed Tait, Free Press columnist and TSN 1290 host Gary Lawless and TSN 1290’s Andrew (Hustler) Paterson.

Panellists were provided a statistical breakdown of the Bombers dating back to the 1950s, as well as an anecdotal package of the early Bombers teams, when statistics were not recorded.

Each panellist brought a unique perspective and personal set of criteria. Grant joined the group via conference call from a cabin in the Wisconsin woods while the rest huddled around a boardroom table at the Free Press offices.

From Grant’s gravelly voice emanating out of the telephone speaker, to Tait’s vivid recollections of games and players, to Robson’s cold analysis of a player’s strengths and weaknesses, to Paterson’s views from the upper decks of our stadiums, there were strong opinions all around.

Some players were quickly selected. Others were hotly debated. Sometimes it came down to a clash of eras. Others made it on the merit of championship wins while those without rings on their fingers were often set aside.

Vote a maximum of once per day and help choose the Blue Bombers player you consider the best at the following positions to be presented in this order: quarterback, offensive lineman, linebacker, kicker, kick returner, running back, defensive lineman, defensive back and receiver.

We’ve done our part. The final decisions are up to you. So vote and vote often. You’re the GM of this team. Make your choices.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless

CHARLES ROBERTS

2001-2008

This diminutive running back was a perennial 1,000-yard rusher for the Blue & Gold and he is the all-time rushing leader with 9,987 yards. Roberts also ranks second on the Bombers’ lists with 17,528 all-purpose yards and 79 touchdowns.

LEO LEWIS*

1955-1966

The Lincoln Locomotive was one of the best all-round players to ever don a Blue Bombers uniform. Lewis ranks second in rushing with 8,861 yards rushing but he was also a threat as a pass receiver; his 4,251 yards are the best by a Winnipeg running back. During his time in Winnipeg, Lewis also served as a backup quarterback and a placekicker in emergency situations.

GERRY JAMES*

1952-1955 & 1957-1962

Kid Dynamite is a fine example of the idiom ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’; His father Eddie (Dynamite) James was a fine halfback for Winnipeg and Regina during the 1930s.

Gerry James was a two-sport athlete (football and hockey). He is the only player to play in the Grey Cup game and the Stanley Cup finals in the same season (1959-60). On the football field, James excelled as a fullback and later in his career as a placekicker. A four-time Grey Cup champion.

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WILLARD REAVES

1983-1987

Reaves was the workhorse of the Winnipeg backfield for five seasons in the 1980s. In just 63 games as a Bomber, Reaves accumulated 5,923 yards along the ground and he scored 53 touchdowns. A one-time Grey Cup champion and winner of CFL MOP award.

MELVIN (FRITZ) HANSON*

1935-1941 (1945 exhib. only)

Fritz Hanson electrified crowds with his running from the halfback position and as a kick returner. Hanson scored 25 touchdowns in 45 league games and he added another 14 TDs in 13 games against U.S. competition. He was a member of the 1935 Winnipegs who were the first Western team to win the Grey Cup; he was also a Grey Cup winner in 1939 & 1941.