My tribute to Ulysses Curtis!

[Foxhound]

All-time great Toronto Argonaut running back and defensive back Ulysses "Crazy Legs" Curtis very sadly passed away on 6 October 2012 at the age of 87. He played 57 regular season games from 1950 to 1954 with the Argonauts emerging with Grey Cup victories over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos respectively in 1950 and 1952. After Ulysses retired the Argos wouldn't win another Grey Cup until 1983!

Ulysses was among the very best natural runners of his era. During those five regular seasons, Ulysses rushed for 3712 yards on 529 attempts which averaged out to over seven yards per carry. His best year carrying the ball was 1952 when he gained 994 yards on 127 carries for a 7.8 yard average and scored sixteen touchdowns during a regular season schedule of only twelve games! During that same season he set an Argonaut single game rushing record of 208 yards against the Montreal Alouettes, a record no Argo surpassed until Gil Fenerty recorded 215 yards in a game in 1988. (That one I attended!) Ulysses was named an all-time Argo by the team in 2005.

It was as a defensive back though that Ulysses was directly involved in one of the most infamous CFL plays of all-time. He'd picked off a pass in a 1951 playoff game against the Ottawa Rough Riders and was heading down the sidelines toward the end zone when Rough Rider Pete Karpuk came off the bench and tackled him!

Incredible as it may seem today, you can see that they still played without face masks in the early fifties:



http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General Album 3/curtis-ulysses_zps806a6526.jpg



http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General Album 3/Ulysses-Curtis_zps98058f07.jpg



http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General Album 3/CurtisU_zpsf8d851ba.jpg



After hanging up his cleats he worked as a schoolteacher in North York for thirty years, which I imagine had to be more daunting than any linebacker he'd faced in his illustrious career.

May a great Canadian sporting icon R.I.P.


:)

[jerrym]

In case no one has welcomed you aboard the good ship Argo, welcome to the website and thanks for this post.

[Foxhound]

Thank you!


:D

[PullTogether73]

I certainly appreciate this tribute to Mr. Curtis for my Argonauts education, but I have to ask...why now?

It's long after his passing, and it is not the anniversary of that, so...?

[Foxhound]

I wrote up this tribute a couple of days after his passing and posted it in the Obituary section of a few other non-football forums I frequent. Joining this forum it made sense to repost my tribute to Ulysses since it's on topic and I have it right at hand.


:)

[PullTogether73]

I wrote up this tribute a couple of days after his passing and posted it in the Obituary section of a few other non-football forums I frequent. Joining this forum it made sense to repost my tribute to Ulysses since it's on topic and I have it right at hand.


:)

Cool!

Btw, the face masks...
Yet another innovation by Paul Brown (the famed coach of the Cleveland Browns after whom the team is named).
His QB ran out of bounds on a play while being chased by defenders. One of the defenders intentionally dove into the QB as he was on the ground. His elbow clocked the QB in the face, breaking his nose (if I recall correctly) and forcing him to miss some time. Coach Brown invented the single bar to serve as protection against such collisions.
This was in the Browns glory years that began in the late 1950s.

[Foxhound]

Here's what the LiveStrong site has to say about the event:

"The helmet manufacturer Riddell created the first modern face mask for Otto Graham, a quarterback with the Cleveland Browns, in 1953. Legend has it that Graham took an elbow to the teeth in the course of play, and he decided enough was enough."

:D

[argos1873]

Cool!

This was in the Browns glory years that began in the late 1950s.

Actually the Browns glory years started when they began in the All-America Football Conference in 1946. They won all 4 championships that the league existed, and then entered the NFL along with the 49ers, and Baltimore Colts (not the same Baltimore Colts that became the Indianapolis Colts of today). They continued to dominate in the NFL entering the league in 1950 and making the NFL championship 5 times between 1950 and 1955, winning 3 times. In case you were interested.

[Rich]

A few years ago I had the pleasure to sit behind Mr. Curtis and his adult grandson at a game at the Skydome. Such a beautiful and generous man, he regaled us with all kinds of stories from the old days, and it was amazing to see how much he still loved the game of football. It was a memorable night in the presence of a true Legend.

[Foxhound]

Actually the Browns glory years started when they began in the All-America Football Conference in 1946. They won all 4 championships that the league existed, and then entered the NFL along with the 49ers, and Baltimore Colts (not the same Baltimore Colts that became the Indianapolis Colts of today). They continued to dominate in the NFL entering the league in 1950 and making the NFL championship 5 times between 1950 and 1955, winning 3 times. In case you were interested.

Truth.

:)

[Foxhound]

A few years ago I had the pleasure to sit behind Mr. Curtis and his adult grandson at a game at the Skydome. Such a beautiful and generous man, he regaled us with all kinds of stories from the old days, and it was amazing to see how much he still loved the game of football. It was a memorable night in the presence of a true Legend.

Oh man, too cool!

:)

[ArgofanIan]

This is excellent post... Always like to hear about ARGO history... Thanks Foxhound