Lewis enters Ring of Honour

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This article was published 18/09/2016 (3303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Legendary Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Bud Grant once famously referred to fellow Bombers legend Leo Lewis as the greatest player he ever coached.

It’s a hell of a statement given Grant skippered a who’s who of Bombers during their golden era and some legends in the National Football League during his time spent with the Minnesota Vikings.

“I think it was because they were teammates at one time, maybe there was something special about that,” said Lewis’ son, Leo Lewis III, who was on hand for the Lincoln Locomotive’s induction into the Blue Bombers Ring of Honour ceremony at halftime during the club’s 46-29 demolition of the Toronto Argonauts Saturday.

“At the time, you didn’t see many black athletes perform on that stage. I think it was unique, and maybe (Grant) had an appreciation for that. Dad did everything. He threw touchdown passes, ran the ball, ran back kicks — he didn’t play defence — but he did everything else.”

Lewis, the sixth man inducted this season, joins the likes of Milt Stegall, Ken Ploen and Chris Walby just above suite-level in the 200 section at Investors Group Field.

Arguably the greatest running back to play for the club, Lewis died in 2013 at 80, but it was clear by the cheers the six-time CFL all-star hasn’t been forgotten a half century following his retirement.

“He’d have been astonished by the notoriety 50 years later,” Lewis III said. “He certainly loved Winnipeg. It was part of our family makeup. We came here every summer. His exploits will be remembered forever.”

Forgetting the man who led the ground attack for the Bombers during their Golden Era would be remiss.

Lewis’s 11 years in Blue and Gold featured four Grey Cup triumphs between 1958 and 1962. The Missouri native racked up 8,861 rushing yards during his career, a club record that stood until Charles Roberts surpassed it in 2007. His career combined yardage count, 18,577 yards between rushing, receiving and in the return game, is still a club best.

For Lewis III (who played 11 seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings), he didn’t get to see Lewis play as much as he would have liked growing up. Lewis retired from football in 1966 due to a knee injury when Lewis III was 10.

But football became a household tradition for the Lewis’. Along with Lewis III, Lewis’s son Marc Lewis followed in his father’s footsteps playing pro ball, with stints with the Ottawa Rough Riders and Calgary Stampeders (Lewis’ third son, Barry, never played professionally).

“My mother didn’t raise us to worry about football as much, our parents were educators worried about us getting a college degree,” Lewis III said. “Dad was probably surprised we had such successful careers, Marc and I, because of our small stature (neither topped six feet). He was really proud of us. His legacy went on.”

Lewis III said his father had to go through a little more than most to get to where he did, coming from a small, primarily African American college in Lincoln University in Jefferson, Mo., to be drafted by the NFL’s Baltimore Colts at the time.

“You don’t find a lot of that these days,” Lewis III said.

Lewis III said he’s planning on writing a book about his father. He admits he’s still seeing new footage of his dad, including during Saturday’s halftime presentation at IGF.

“I think his legacy hasn’t been written well,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that. I think his legacy merges with mine.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @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.

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