The photo arrived right out the blue — or out of the green, as it were — the other day.
Shown in front of a Christmas tree were Saskatchewan Roughriders great Jack Abendschan and his wonderful wife, Marjorie.
I liked the photo so much that I asked Marjorie for permission to share it with Rider Nation.
She has shared so much with me in recent years that I felt rather sheepish to send her another request.
But Marjorie, as always, was cheerful and accommodating, even though the last few years have not been the easiest ride.
Jack was diagnosed with dementia in 2008 — four years before he was enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
I remember interviewing Jack shortly after his induction was announced. At this end, there wasn’t the slightest sense that anything was imperfect.
He sounded happy and healthy as he reminisced about his time as an All-Star guard and a productive placekicker.
It wasn’t until the spring of 2021 when I found out that dementia had cost Jack most of his memory.
“I wish it wasn’t this way, but we keep counting our blessings,” Marjorie told this scribbler, then of the Regina Leader-Post, from the Abendschans’ home in Abilene, Texas.
The love of Jack’s life added: “I don’t think there’s a sweeter man around than him.”
Periodic follow-up conversations have ensued. Invariably, Marjorie puts Jack on the phone. The voice and the good nature are instantly recognizable.
“How’s it going, buddy?!”
Marjorie, bless her heart, texted me once more on Dec. 23. The image of a happy couple defined two of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Looking at Jack, who turned 81 a week before Christmas, you would think that he was several decades younger.
“He still doesn’t look his age,” Marjorie told me in May of 2021. “He’s still pretty.”
As a player, he was pretty amazing.
Seven times a Western Conference (now West Division) All-Star, he earned All-Canadian status on five occasions.
In addition to providing reliable protection for quarterback Ron Lancaster and clearing holes for fullback George Reed, Jack was among the CFL’s best as a placement specialist.
He produced a conference-leading 116 points in 1969 and 1970. In the latter season, he was the league’s scoring leader.
All these years later, I still remember Jack hurriedly making a wardrobe change between downs as his role suddenly shifted from blocker to kicker.
The laces were wrapped around the end of his kicking shoe to elevate the toe, back in the days when specialists were not in vogue.
The term “Special Teams Co-ordinator” was unheard of at the time. Coaching staffs typically consisted of a field boss and two assistants. The active roster was limited to 32 players, so versatility was of the essence.
In 1969, for example, the CFL’s scoring title went to Tommy Joe Coffey, who amassed 148 points on behalf of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In addition to catching 11 touchdown passes and scoring on a fumble return, he produced 76 points with his right foot.
Back then, it was a bonus if a CFLer could connect on half of his field-goal attempts, even if he did happen to be employed solely as a kicker.
Jack had a career three-point percentage of 53.0 on top of being one of the best offensive linemen we will ever see.
In 1966, Jack made a career-long 52-yarder for a team that ultimately captured its first Grey Cup championship.
The very same year, he pulled some strings to help fellow offensive lineman Tom Beynon study law at the University of Saskatchewan while playing football for the Green and White.
Beynon was poised to leave the Roughriders in September of 1966 so he could attend university in his home province of Ontario. Jack, as luck would have it, knew a local lawyer named Harold Pick, who intervened on Beynon’s behalf and arranged for him to enrol at the U of S.
That is but one of the innumerable stories pertaining to Jack’s brilliance as a human being.
He is endlessly nice — and therefore a most compatible husband, given Marjorie’s remarkable, unshakeable good cheer.
In recent years, Jack has spent time in an assisted-living facility and at home. Marjorie, at times, has been a 24-hours-per-day caregiver.
Instead of lamenting the situation, she prefers to accentuate the positives and focus on those magical moments, such as dancing with her husband to a favourite Elvis Presley tune.
They are seldom too far away from a framed photo of the Roughriders’ legendary No. 53, Jack Abendschan.
Other pictures, such as the one Marjorie so kindly sent my way over the holidays, are also a treasure — a reminder of greatness that endures.
