Lionbackers.com

sj-roc wrote:

hunsperger wrote: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.

Interesting ones I noted were North Delta product punter Mitch Berger and the very successful golfer Hale Irwin. You often hear of outstanding two and three sport college athletes but you never think of a guy excelling in golf and football. Irwin played some QB with Colorado as a sophomore before finishing up as a safety. Being a two-time first team All-Big Eight safety and two-time All-Big Eight Conference Golf Champion is quite the double whammy.

The 1974 season was Hunsperger's best. It was also the only season during his career with the BC Lions that he remained injury free. During the off-season, rumors were swirling throughout Vancouver that a major scandal was about to erupt around the BC Lions involving two of their players. In early 1975 Vancouver Sun columnist Alan Fotheringham would break the story...

hunsperger wrote:The 1974 season was Hunsperger's best. It was also the only season during his career with the BC Lions that he remained injury free. During the off-season, rumors were swirling throughout Vancouver that a major scandal was about to erupt around the BC Lions involving two of their players. In early 1975 Vancouver Sun columnist Alan Fotheringham would break the story...

and................................. i am on the edge of my seat :lol: :lol:

Hambone wrote:

sj-roc wrote:

hunsperger wrote: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.

Interesting ones I noted were North Delta product punter Mitch Berger and the very successful golfer Hale Irwin. You often hear of outstanding two and three sport college athletes but you never think of a guy excelling in golf and football. Irwin played some QB with Colorado as a sophomore before finishing up as a safety. Being a two-time first team All-Big Eight safety and two-time All-Big Eight Conference Golf Champion is quite the double whammy.

Also Kordell "Slash" Stewart who became a starting QB for the Steelers for a bit, and Darian Hagan was another converted QB by the time he reached the CFL. Joe Garten played for one of the US-based CFL teams as well but I forget which.

Most infamous: Rae Carruth.

I'm Garretts daughter in law. I would love to have as many stories as you can give. Good or bad. I want to have them for my children. Also any paraphenalia that you would otherwise get rid of I will happily take. Thanks.

Jaclyn wrote:I'm Garretts daughter in law. I would love to have as many stories as you can give. Good or bad. I want to have them for my children. Also any paraphenalia that you would otherwise get rid of I will happily take. Thanks.

I doubt there are very many here old enough to remember your father-in-law as a player other than the links to stories and comments made earlier-but I may be wrong. Time fades the memory, other than for me that Garrett Hunsperger was regarded as a terrific team player and team mate and player from a fan's perspective. Toughness is what I recall more than anything else. Opponents weren't always thrilled to line up against him!

He was highly regarded by the local sports writers and the fans alike.

As to the bar room brawl in Campbell River, let me tell that that is not a surprise to me. I worked in the late '60 and '70s at a major sawmill and then pulp mill - before and during university - and regularly travelled through and stopped in Campbell River where bar room brawls occurred every hour it seemed. Local loggers in those days would always - it seems - be on the look out for someone to battle and Garrett and Bud Magrum would have been terrific targets for the local boys to want to take on. Times have changed since those days. I know when we pulp mill workers went for a beer in Gold River, we went in packs and made sure we knew just how many loggers were present in the bar or made sure we were with a mill foreman as even though we were all with the same company the loggers wanted to tear us apart just because they could. These were the single loggers not the family guys just so as not to smear all loggers. It was different in Tahsis where we saw mill workers outnumbered any loggers who ventured to town. My point is that those were unique and different times, the like of which you'd have to venture to Granville Street on a weekend night to see - only these new dudes are more drunks than good fighters like the old days. Not trying to glorify the old days, just state it as I saw them.


The comment that he and Wayne Matherne remained life long friends is what I recall did take place. Wayne was another tough hard nosed player the like of which we saw a lot of from those days. Players who combined raw toughness with their athleticism.

It would be interesting for us older fans who watched these players even as young kids to hear of what Garrett did after football when he returned home.

Local loggers in those days would always - it seems - be on the look out for someone to battle

know when we pulp mill workers went for a beer in Gold River, we went in packs and made sure we knew just how many loggers were present in the bar or made sure we were with a mill foreman as even though we were all with the same company the loggers wanted to tear us apart just because they could.

I worked as a logger at Kelsey Bay and also pulled lumber on the green chain at Elk Falls Mill in Campbell River in summer jobs...so saw both sides of it Toppy! For no logical reason "B.C. loggers" as they often refered to themselves hated "cake eaters" which meant anyone who worked at a mill! When I hear the line in an old Johnny Cash song...fighting in the mud, and the blood, and the beer" it reminds me of those days. Wrestlers on the "circuit" stopped coming to those small towns cause the locals always wanted to challenge them! Gene Kiniski would challenge anyone 'on Monday night" but Saturday night in Tahsis or Gold River, Kelsey Bay, or Campbell River was not the time for challenges!

[quote]

I'm Garretts daughter in law. I would love to have as many stories as you can give. Good or bad. I want to have them for my children. Also any paraphenalia that you would otherwise get rid of I will happily take. Thanks.
[/quot

Hello Jaclyn,

Let me know if you get this message. I was a fan of your father-in-law when he played with the BC Lions. I started this thread and provided some of the information. Perhaps we can exchange personal email addresses, and I will endeavor to help you out. Regards.

As far as I know, the only player in the league comparable to him strength wise, was Tom Laputka. Does that name ring a bell to anybody here?

hunsperger wrote:

I'm Garretts daughter in law. I would love to have as many stories as you can give. Good or bad. I want to have them for my children. Also any paraphenalia that you would otherwise get rid of I will happily take. Thanks.
[/quot

Hello Jaclyn,

Let me know if you get this message. I was a fan of your father-in-law when he played with the BC Lions. I started this thread and provided some of the information. Perhaps we can exchange personal email addresses, and I will endeavor to help you out. Regards.

I would happily exchange email with you however I'm not sure how to do it privately. If it's not possible I will do it publicly.

Garrett basically stayed a gym rat through most of his career after football. He did various different things but for the longest time he owned a weight lifting equipment which he sold mainly to colleges. Later he had another company where he personally designed and manufactured the weight lifting equipment. He was still a large man throughout his life. Obviously his size did lessen but not his strength. 5 days before he passed away while literally in a morphine trance I watched him drop a man to his knees just by his handshake. His sense of humor however stayed with him throughout his life and with that I do have some FUNNY stories.

-Jaclyn

Blitz wrote:

Local loggers in those days would always - it seems - be on the look out for someone to battle

know when we pulp mill workers went for a beer in Gold River, we went in packs and made sure we knew just how many loggers were present in the bar or made sure we were with a mill foreman as even though we were all with the same company the loggers wanted to tear us apart just because they could.

I worked as a logger at Kelsey Bay and also pulled lumber on the green chain at Elk Falls Mill in Campbell River in summer jobs...so saw both sides of it Toppy! For no logical reason "B.C. loggers" as they often refered to themselves hated "cake eaters" which meant anyone who worked at a mill! When I hear the line in an old Johnny Cash song...fighting in the mud, and the blood, and the beer" it reminds me of those days. Wrestlers on the "circuit" stopped coming to those small towns cause the locals always wanted to challenge them! Gene Kiniski would challenge anyone 'on Monday night" but Saturday night in Tahsis or Gold River, Kelsey Bay, or Campbell River was not the time for challenges!

Were you one of those loggers us mill workers were always cautiously looking over our shoulders at? Hmmm.

Yes, I worked in Tahsis on and off from 1966-69 and then one last 4 month stint in the Tahsis Co. Pulp Mill (wood room) at Gold River. Those were the days. I made sure my only (near) fight was with the guy running the Gold River food/bunk house. He was a stupid drunk who actually booted my room mate out and then nearly me (my room mate ended up living in a tent for our last month there).

I can see why Garrett Hunsperger and Bud Magrum were challenged by those logger type guys as in Campbell River they'd have stood out big time and some local tough guy would have wanted one or both of them as notches in his belt. I had heard that the wrestling circuit guys didn't want those small towns for the reason that you mention. One thing though, they didn't do what goes on today and touch the RCMP constables, they were off-limits, unlike today. Mostly this was about respect for them and the need for them in small towns and some due to sentencing for hitting a police officer which in those days could be six months in the slammer (but they closed it!).

I can also see a hugely strong, tough dude like Garrett H and Magrum would simply beat the snot of the local toughie so this doesn't surprise me one bit. The fact that they weren't hunted down means the case was weak as BC in those days would hunt down people fleeing even the most minor charges regardless of the location in Canada and bring them back - unlike Toronto.

Jaclyn wrote:

hunsperger wrote:

I'm Garretts daughter in law. I would love to have as many stories as you can give. Good or bad. I want to have them for my children. Also any paraphenalia that you would otherwise get rid of I will happily take. Thanks.
[/quot

Hello Jaclyn,

Let me know if you get this message. I was a fan of your father-in-law when he played with the BC Lions. I started this thread and provided some of the information. Perhaps we can exchange personal email addresses, and I will endeavor to help you out. Regards.

I would happily exchange email with you however I'm not sure how to do it privately. If it's not possible I will do it publicly.

Garrett basically stayed a gym rat through most of his career after football. He did various different things but for the longest time he owned a weight lifting equipment which he sold mainly to colleges. Later he had another company where he personally designed and manufactured the weight lifting equipment. He was still a large man throughout his life. Obviously his size did lessen but not his strength. 5 days before he passed away while literally in a morphine trance I watched him drop a man to his knees just by his handshake. His sense of humor however stayed with him throughout his life and with that I do have some FUNNY stories.

-Jaclyn

Look up top on page and you will see Messages and simply click on that. Type in his name and send him a message. That will work and keep your email and communication to him private.

One thing more on those days. In those days the BC Lions "owned" the city and province. There was no Vancouver Canuck team in the NHL so a lot of ink in those days went to the Lions and all their players including Garrett H who was very well known and to amateur and high school sports.

Can you tell us about what Garrett did after football?

Thanks for the info! When Garrett came back to Kansas City he did various things. He eventually started Pro Star Sports where he built weightlifting equipment and sold it. He mostly sold to high schools and college football programs. He sold that company and semi retired for a while and then got bored. He then started Sterling Fitness where he actually designed the equipment and then personally built it. He was a fanatic about "tweaking" machines to enhance the particular muscle that they were supposed to work on. He would make me crazy everyday by calling me and telling me he just finished a machine that would work on the "xxx" muscle. He loved the fact that I didn't know squat about muscles nor did I really care! He was big about just the machines. He didn't like all the specialty machines. He liked pure and simple weight lifting stuff. He didn't try to get to fancy.

His other love was fishing and would come up to Canada at least once a year to fish the Pike. When it was all said it done Canada was where his heart was. He loved that country. The funny part about all the Campbell River stuff is that I knew him for 20 years. And while I knew there was no way he was calm in his younger days my nickname for him was "Gentle Giant." (At least the nickname I can post on a public web site! I was his favorite tormentee) He was ornery as hell and his ability to prank took on epic proportions.

He was extremeley honored when he got voted for the BC Lions dream team. He thought that was really cool and he was really proud that so many people remembered him.

Jaclyn wrote:Thanks for the info! When Garrett came back to Kansas City he did various things. He eventually started Pro Star Sports where he built weightlifting equipment and sold it. He mostly sold to high schools and college football programs. He sold that company and semi retired for a while and then got bored. He then started Sterling Fitness where he actually designed the equipment and then personally built it. He was a fanatic about "tweaking" machines to enhance the particular muscle that they were supposed to work on. He would make me crazy everyday by calling me and telling me he just finished a machine that would work on the "xxx" muscle. He loved the fact that I didn't know squat about muscles nor did I really care! He was big about just the machines. He didn't like all the specialty machines. He liked pure and simple weight lifting stuff. He didn't try to get to fancy.

His other love was fishing and would come up to Canada at least once a year to fish the Pike. When it was all said it done Canada was where his heart was. He loved that country. The funny part about all the Campbell River stuff is that I knew him for 20 years. And while I knew there was no way he was calm in his younger days my nickname for him was "Gentle Giant." (At least the nickname I can post on a public web site! I was his favorite tormentee) He was ornery as hell and his ability to prank took on epic proportions.

He was extremeley honored when he got voted for the BC Lions dream team. He thought that was really cool and he was really proud that so many people remembered him.

Much appreciated look into a Lion legend, thanks for posting that up, we do enjoy the reads.

Jaclyn wrote:Thanks for the info! When Garrett came back to Kansas City he did various things. He eventually started Pro Star Sports where he built weightlifting equipment and sold it. He mostly sold to high schools and college football programs. He sold that company and semi retired for a while and then got bored. He then started Sterling Fitness where he actually designed the equipment and then personally built it. He was a fanatic about "tweaking" machines to enhance the particular muscle that they were supposed to work on. He would make me crazy everyday by calling me and telling me he just finished a machine that would work on the "xxx" muscle. He loved the fact that I didn't know squat about muscles nor did I really care! He was big about just the machines. He didn't like all the specialty machines. He liked pure and simple weight lifting stuff. He didn't try to get to fancy.

His other love was fishing and would come up to Canada at least once a year to fish the Pike. When it was all said it done Canada was where his heart was. He loved that country. The funny part about all the Campbell River stuff is that I knew him for 20 years. And while I knew there was no way he was calm in his younger days my nickname for him was "Gentle Giant." (At least the nickname I can post on a public web site! I was his favorite tormentee) He was ornery as hell and his ability to prank took on epic proportions.

He was extremeley honored when he got voted for the BC Lions dream team. He thought that was really cool and he was really proud that so many people remembered him.

Yes, I echo Rammer's thoughts. Thank you for the memories of a special BC Lion player. He was a huge part of the team's success here and like I said earlier, the BC Lions were the top team in these parts so fans definitely remembered his play here. Nice to hear good things about his liking of Canada and fishing here. If it is pike he came for I guess he headed to the prairie provinces for that kind of fishing or maybe Ontario.

Did he keep in contact with others like Wayne Matherne from his Lion days? The team in those days was quite a tight knit group and hung out together around town.