Garrett Hunsperger

[hunsperger]

Grew up a fan of the BC Lions back in the Empire Stadium days. As kids we always had our favourite players. Anyways, my favourite player was the late Garrett Hunsperger. Being a somewhat nostalgic person every now and then, I welcome any comments regarding his career. Over time I am sure to post my own. Thanks.

[TheLionKing]

I recall watching #64 play. He was a very strong player and was excellent against the run.

[B.C.FAN]

Hunsperger was discussed earlier this year in this thread:
Link

[hunsperger]

I recall watching #64 play. He was a very strong player and was excellent against the run.

Strong indeed! Played at about 255-260 pounds. Considered to be one of the strongest players in professional football at the time. (1969 thru 1975). CFL or NFL. Was told he could rep 550 pounds in the bench press.

[David]

He would drive to camp from Missouri in his Jeep!

DH 8)

[hunsperger]

He would drive to camp from Missouri in his Jeep!

Yea. He was from Kansas City, Missouri. He played college football at Central Missouri. As kids we would wait for the players to leave after the game so we could collect autographs. I am sure I still have an old program laying around with his autograph. Being a fan of Garrett, I would pay particular attention to him as the players walked to their vehicles. Garrett drove a Ford Bronco. The things we remember.

[hunsperger]

Hunsperger was discussed earlier this year in this thread:

Yes, that is what prompted me to start this thread. Toppy Vann, David and Hambone have some vague recollections of his career. Over time, I, being a fan of his, when he played, will elaborate on those. But I would still be interested in hearing from other Lions fans who grew up in the early seventies following the BC Lions.

[David]

I was determined to find out what really happened to Garret Hunsberger toward the tail-end of his career. I vaguely recall he and teammate (ex-Marine and Vietnam Vet) Bud Magrum getting into an altercation in a B.C. hotel and beating someone up.

There is surprisingly little to be found on Mr. Hunsperger on the internet, but I did find a B.C. Legislative debate dated 1975 in which they describe not one, but two incidents in which they got off fairly lightly (for which the Attorney General is getting pilloried by the Opposition in the legislative session). I seem to recall the club tried to "cover up" the incident(s?) as best they could and took a huge PR hit because of it. In fact, 1975 was one of their poorest years at the gate and left the Leos bleeding in a sea of red ink.

**********

MR. WALLACE: These two football players severely beat a man in Campbell River on May 27, 1974, and one of the players was so successful in avoiding being served with the criminal charges that the papers eventually had to be left with his wife on July 7 ...

MR. L.A. WILLIAMS: He's just a broken field runner.

MR. WALLACE: ... which is six weeks after the assault. Of course, even after that event, there were considerable delays. The case was adjourned on two or three occasions.

MR. L.A. WILLIAMS: He got penalized for delaying the game.

MR. WALLACE: Finally, it was October 28 before the case came to court. We know that subsequent to that the court, because of a technicality, found that the case could not be proceeded with. Although this football player had already been fined at the civil level, I forget how many thousands of dollars and found guilty in a civil suit, he was subsequently discharged because of a technicality in the action of presumably the Crown prosecutor.

MR. CHAIRMAN: The Hon. Member is in the final minutes of his allotted speaking time.

MR. L.A. WILLIAMS: He got traded to Toronto.

MR. WALLACE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman

**********

These two instances - the stay of proceedings on a very serious matter where the charge is manslaughter, and a bungling and fumbling of a prosecution where a man was very severely beaten in a Campbell River hotel and where finally one of the charges was dropped because of a technicality in the way in which the charge was written - leaves the man in the street asking what kind of efficiency we have in the administration of justice in this province. Probably the Attorney-General would like to explain what happened in these two particular instances and perhaps assure us that the likelihood of that happening in the future is not great.

HON. MR. MACDONALD: I'll try to answer as quickly as I can. Since the last case is fresh in the Members' minds, I'll start at the back and work up. Hunsperger and Magrum were charged for the Campbell River incident. There was delay. We have about 80,000 prosecutions that go through this department every year. This was one of them. There was some delay in service of process, unquestionably, but then there were appearances by the lawyer for the accused in the court and then there was a non-appearance - I think it was in October.

MR. WALLACE: October 28.

HON. MR. MACDONALD: Yes, October 28. Then the new process was issued to summons Mr. Hunsperger before the court. Our prosecutor at that time, who was a very capable lawyer, did not ask for a bench warrant.

AN HON. MEMBER: Why?

HON. MR. MACDONALD: That is a matter of discretion. Generally speaking, you don't arrest people. He had appeared by a lawyer already, and he didn't. That was his decision on the spur of the moment. But the funny part about the judge's decision, and the part with which I disagree, with respect, was that when the trial came up the judge refused an amendment because, he said, the citizen should not be harassed. He said this citizen had been harassed because over a period of time there had been the two processes and so forth. In my opinion, the citizen had not been harassed. If he had been harassed, we would have issued a bench warrant on his non-appearance. You know, arrest him when he didn't appear on October 28. So I respectfully disagree with the decision, but that is the court's decision. Mr. Hunsperger then had his Prince George case, That is still before the courts so I don't want to comment....

DH 8)

[hunsperger]

Thanks for the reply David. Indeed, there were two separate incidents. The first involved only Hunsperger, the second involved both Hunsperger and Magrum. Details to follow. Just as an aside, both Hunsperger and Magrum were ex-Marines. Magrum was a decorated Vietnam veteran with a very accomplished college football carreer. For a profile of Magrum check out the following: http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf6/47954.pdf?S ... OEM_ID=600 and http://colorado.scout.com/2/387101.html

[sj-roc]

http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf6/47954.pdf?S ... OEM_ID=600

Some accomplished players in that extended list...

Tom Rouen went on to a respectable NFL career, and while he may never make it into any sports-related Halls of Fame, his lettuce belongs in the Mullet HOF.

[hunsperger]

Hunsperger played his college football at Central Missouri, an NAIA school. After completing his collegiate career, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. For a period of time he was stationed in Japan. After mustering out of the U.S. Marines he joined the BC Lions in 1969. From 1969 to 1974 Hunsperger established himself as a top-notch import defensive tackle, despite what the football card says. This is significant because, during this period of time, he was plagued by knee injuries. It seemed not one season went by where he did not have to have major knee surgery. He had a reputation for being a gym rat and being one of the physically strongest men in all of professional football. Unfortunately, he had knees that never cooperated. Also, unfortunately, he had a propensity for off field violence. This would ultimately lead to his release from the BC Lions after the 1974 season, despite being voted to the All Star team. I've run out of time, to be continued...

[David]

Thanks for the reply David. Indeed, there were two separate incidents. The first involved only Hunsperger, the second involved both Hunsperger and Magrum. Details to follow. Just as an aside, both Hunsperger and Magrum were ex-Marines. Magrum was a decorated Vietnam veteran with a very accomplished college football carreer. For a profile of Magrum check out the following: http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf6/47954.pdf?S ... OEM_ID=600 and http://colorado.scout.com/2/387101.html

Sorry to hear that Bud died so tragically. We sure had some certifiable uhhh...."characters" back in the 70's. One day before practice Bud and teammate Ron Estay - himself no stranger from firearms being from the Bayou - ran through the stands at Empire Stadium shooting at pigeons in the rafters with shotguns!

DH 8)

[Robbie]

A player card from 1972 on eBay:

[hunsperger]

characters" back in the 70's.

For sure, I guess it came with the times. Don't forget another, a DB from N.E. Louisiana named Wayne Matherne, #15 in your program. Remembered as the "Rajun Cajun". He and Hunsperger would remain lifelong friends.

[David]

Yes, I remember Wayne Matherne very well. He was a versatile DB who came to the Leos in 1971. My favourite story was the scrum of reporters who used to interview Ron Estay (himself a Louisianan with a fast way of talking and the thickest of accents) kept Wayne on hand...to "translate," only to discover this Cajun "language" was only mildly more decipherable with Wayne! :lol:

DH 8)