The other day, I was transfixed by a photo from the fall of 1977 — showing a John Hufnagel fall from 1977.
Hufnagel, then a quarterback with the Calgary Stampeders, is shown on the Taylor Field turf. The sole Stampeder in the shot, he is greatly outnumbered by members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Green-clad offensive players are mingling with defensive cohorts, meaning that a turnover must have occurred. The football is not visible, so was there an interception? A fumble? A turnover on downs?
It was an appetizing question for a dusty team historian, who quickly dove into dispatches from 46 years ago so the circumstances could be confirmed.
“The end came on a third-and-four play from the Saskatchewan 54,” Regina Leader-Post legend Bob Hughes wrote, “and it saw Bill Baker roar through untouched to nail Hufnagel for a seven-yard loss.”
Baker’s second sack of the day sealed it as a 19-17 Roughriders victory, registered on Oct. 2, 1977, became official after the remaining 44 seconds expired.
Who knows how long the photo has been in the files?
John Knisley, our Football Operations Intern, actually uncovered a handful of images from 1977 while perusing the Roughriders’ photo archive earlier this week.
Leading up to each game, John looks for photos featuring the Roughriders and their next opponent. He then posts the most aesthetically appealing results of his search on the countdown clock in the football-operations area at Mosaic Stadium.
With Friday’s game at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium looming, John foraged for Roughriders-Stampeders photos and, from the standpoint of someone who revels in treasures such as this, won a lottery.
“I just found them interesting because they looked so out of place,” John said. “Every time you look, you notice something weird, like the multiple people in the bucket trucks and the offence and defence both out on the field. It looks like 13 men around one Stampeder — who is, of course, John Hufnagel.”
The very same John Hufnagel remains with the Stampeders as their President and Football Consultant.
The Knisley collection, celebrated here, includes two photos of Hufnagel being felled by Baker and one shot of the Stampeders’ quarterback being helped to his feet by Roughriders offensive lineman Sam Holden. Joey Walters, who caught a touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster in that game, is shown on the far left in the “Holden’s helping hand” photo.
Most of Lancaster can be seen on the far left of another John Knisley discovery — a priceless photo that was taken before an Oct. 16, 1977 home game against Edmonton.
The Little General is shown in warmups — in crystal-clear colour — as he is fronted by offensive linemen Mike Dirks, Larry Bird and Joe Miller and newly arrived tight end Bob Bruer.
Lined up on the defensive side are Lou Clare, Emil Nielsen, Steve Dennis, Don Croft, Roger Goree, Cleveland Vann, Ken McEachern and, interestingly, Roger Aldag — an offensive lineman who was in the early stages of a Hall of Fame career.
Lancaster’s grandson, Regina-born Marc Mueller, will be present at McMahon Stadium on Friday in his capacity as the Stampeders’ Quarterbacks Coach.
So, even after nearly a half-century, there are links between the then and now.
“It’s fun to find these photos,” Knisley said. “The guys love them and it helps some of them who don’t know much about our team’s history to learn a little bit.”
In that spirit, we bring you a few more historical nuggets emanating from a game that was played on George Reed’s 38th birthday.
- Matthew Reed started at quarterback for Calgary before being replaced by Hufnagel. It was fitting, then, that the quarterbacking matchup at the outset of the contest was Lancaster versus Reed.
- Bob Bruer’s historic NFL moment: As a member of the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 18, 1979, he caught Joe Montana’s first career touchdown pass — a 16-yarder that was snared with one hand at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
- George Wells registered three sacks for Saskatchewan in that early-October game. His off-season vocation: Professional wrestler. In 1986, he fought Jake (The Snake) Roberts at Wrestlemania 2. Here is a portion of Wikipedia’s summation of Roberts versus Wells: “Roberts hit a DDT on Wells and pinned him to win the match.” That may have been how Hufnagel felt after being sacked by Baker.
- Baker, by the way, was the Roughriders’ General Manager when Hufnagel concluded his playing career as a member of the 1987 Saskatchewan team. An assistant coach in 1987, Hufnagel was also activated for one game — a Sept. 19 home game against Edmonton. He had previously played for the Roughriders from 1980 to 1983.
- Both Saskatchewan touchdowns against Calgary were set up after Reed threw an interception. He was picked off by McEachern and Randy Graham.
- Lancaster’s touchdown passes were caught by Walters and Brian O’Hara. In the 1978 regular-season finale at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, Walters caught Lancaster’s final CFL touchdown pass. O’Hara subsequently snared Lancaster’s final pass, period. (Baker also concluded his illustrious playing career in that Oct. 29, 1978 game in the Alberta capital. He sacked Warren Moon for a safety touch late in the fourth quarter to provide the finishing touch in a 36-26 Saskatchewan victory.)
- Tommy Reamon carried the ball 19 times for 56 yards versus Calgary. Reamon was the World Football League’s leading rusher in 1974, its inaugural season. He amassed 1,576 yards along the ground as a member of the Florida Blazers. Later an actor, Reamon appeared in episodes of Charlie’s Angels, Quincy and The Fall Guy.
- The Stampeders’ quarterbacks were fall guys, in a different context, by virtue of being sacked six times on Oct. 2, 1977.
