I asked PostMedia's Ed Willes why no mention of Ted (when they went with 2 pages of Jack McIlhargey....and then incorrectly captioned a photo from the 1970s as Dennis Ververgaert!). Ed said that he's writing a piece for Monday, but to send him what I've got. Here goes:
According to Lui (who looked up to Ted when he was a kid), Ted and Jan Stenerud were the first soccer-style kickers in N.A.
https://post.futurimedia.com/ckstam/pla ... 25705.html
A lot of people didn't realize Ted's versatility. He was a back-up fullback, returned punts and kicks, and even played DB (I have a DVD of him playing DB in a game at Empire in 1969).
This is from the 1973 CFL Illustrated (B.C. Lions), "In 1969 under Jim Champion - and later (Jackie) Parker for the last game of the season, plus one playoff game - Gerela was a regular in the defensive backfield. Although he got beat deep on occasions, he impressed everyone with his hitting, putting several players out of games with his vicious shoulder tackles."
According to John Wirtanen in the book,
B.C. Lions Football: The First 50 Years, "...Years later Gerela told sports writer Gary Kingston, "There wasn't a lot of practice time, particularly when I had to spend so much time learning the fullback and running back plays. And at that time, unlike today, we didn't concentrate much on the kicking game. I could never understand it because it was one-third of the game. Anyway, in 1974, I went to Eagle Keys and told him I wanted to concentrate on kicking. Eagle said, 'You're good enough to do other things, we can't afford to have you just do that.' Since he wasn't going to let me specialize...I retired. (p. 96).
"Ted Gerela, aka Teddy Bear, is the teams leading scorer (1969) and second in the WFC scoring race. Teammates say he "...has calves like two loaves of French bread." Reporters agree and state he has trouble pulling up his elastic-bottomed pants up his legs. (During warm-ups in Calgary on July 6th (1969), Ted kicked a wind-at-his-back 67-yard field goal that left fans gasping). (p. 109).
He held a CFL record for field goals in a season (30), in 1968.
Won the Bobby Bourne Trophy in 1968 (Most Popular B.C. Lions Player)
In 1970, he was 30 for 30 on converts (then a rarity).
Played in 1970 All-Star game.
DH