Two-way Gray takes place among Bombers greats

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/10/2016 (3288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Herb Gray may not have been the biggest man on the field, but his family will tell you he had the biggest heart.

He was also a pretty funny guy.

“He let (his kids) believe that the Grey Cup was named after him for years until they found out there was a difference in the spelling,” said Gray’s widow, Maureen Fitzgerald-Gray, who was flanked by Gray’s two sons, Kevin and Steve for Gray’s induction into the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ring of Honour Saturday at Investors Group Field.

“He was honourable, a man of his word — he was fun, fun to be around,” Fitzgerald-Gray said.

“He wasn’t a man of many words, but when he did talk, you listened,” Steve added.

Gray is the eighth name etched into the team’s new shrine honouring its past heroes. Gray’s plaque, which now hangs just above the suite level at IGF, was unveiled at halftime of of the Blue Bombers tilt with the B.C. Lions.

Gray, who passed away in 2011 at the age of 76, was cheered by the 24,284 in attendance, with many expressing their gratitude to the man who captained the Bombers for nine seasons during his decade-long tenure with the club.

“The fact that Herb was honoured all these years later says a lot about who he was and a lot about who (the fans) are,” Fitzgerald-Gray said. “He really liked coming back for these things. He really liked Winnipeg.”

Gray manned the line on both sides of the ball as a guard and a defensive end during the club’s golden era in the 1950s and 1960s. Gray would win four Grey Cups with the Bombers and was inducted in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

“It’s very special. The only thing that would have made this greater would have been having him here to receive it himself,” said Steve. “To receive this on his behalf is great. He loved football and he loved Winnipeg and to be back amongst his fans is very special (for)us.”

“He’d always get teary-eyed about Canada,” Kevin added.

Steve and Kevin were in their early childhood years when their father retired. What they remember about him has largely come through stories passed along.

“The first thing he’d do every game on the first play is hit the person across from him as hard as he could to let them know who’s boss,” said Steve, who was wearing his father’s Grey Cup ring from the Bombers’ 1959 championship.

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.

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.