Your favourite Blue Bomber running backs of all-time!

You’re still giddy from the big win I think!

And he’s been talkin to Grease Monkeys (been workin on cars)

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So hard for me to pick from Harris,Roberts & Reaves. I've been a fan for over 30 years and these 3 would be top 10 in the league over that time.
Sellers while a force, was a force for too short of a time.

Talked to a soil farmer this morning.

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His name was “Jim” but he went by “Jay”.

:slightly_smiling_face:

Keep in mind the only 3 really great RBs Grant had in Canada/CFL were Lewis, Charlie Shepard & Gerry James. Towards 1965 Dave “The Knife” Raimey came along but Grant was about half-way booked to Minnesota by then.

In Minneapolis Grant had Dave Osborn and really nothing more. It was a bargain-dollar team with an outstanding defense (Purple People Eaters) and a unique, under-sized, hard-scrambling QB named Fran Tarkenton. Old Bud was only around for a couple years of Chuck Foreman, Adriano Peterson arrived well after Grant’s goose was cooked and so did their current whirling dervish.
Lewis was easily better than Dave Osborn, the only real running back of any renown until Foreman arrived. In fact Minnesota had 5 cracks at a Super Bowl with incredibly fine-tuned defensive units. Their offenses really sagged under the gun, the reaon - they never had running monsters like Leo Lewis, Fritzy Hanson or Andrew Harris to extend drives and drive opposing defenses crazy.
Just Old Dave Osborn !!!

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“Only”? He was blessed to have such three great running backs as well as Dave Raimey in 1965-66! Bud Grant was truly fortunate to have so many HoF running backs in just ten years as head coach.

:face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Kinda my point - Lewis was one of the CFL’s all-time greats. He ran, he caught passes, he kicked converts & field goals, he ran back punts & kick-offs. Even threw a few passes on the option play designed by Grant. James & Choo-Choo Shepard were greats but not really close to Lincoln Locomotive (Lewis’s great nickname) in all-purpose use.

The point was - Grant had Lewis, Shepard, James & Raimey (1 year) (don’t forget George Fleming either but thats another story) . . . . in his 10 yr stint with the Bombers - but only had Old Dave Osborne and maybe Dale Hackbart for the majority of his run with the Vikings.
Bud Grant was blessed with talented (and versatile) back-fielders during his Winnipeg years. Not so much down south!

Bud Grant had Dave Raimey with the Bombers in both 1965 and 1966.

:slightly_smiling_face:

Raimey was brought in with a lot of hype to replace Leo Lewis I believe and never really lived up to the fanfare. It was a time of turnover on the roster and Raimey may have been a malcontent and was traded to Toronto.

Amos Van Pelt was signed around that time and was a good back for a couple of years as well. On par with Raimey if I recall correctly.

Bombers also went through a few QB’s back then until Don Jonas showed up in the early 70’s. Jon Schneider and Wally Gabler among them.

Actually you do not. Dave Raimey was spectacular when he joined the Blue Bombers:

Dave Raimey

1965 - 130 carries with an average of 8.1 yards per carry for a total of 1052 yards
1966 - 188 carries with an average of 6.5 yards per carry for a total of 1223 yards
1967 - 125 carries with an average of 6.2 yards per carry for a total of 772 yards
1968 - 162 carries with an average of 4.8 yards per carry for a total of 781 yards

While he was still a very productive pass receiver in 1968 with 43 catches for 509 yards, the Blue Bombers elected not to play Raimey at the start of the 1969 season and he was traded to the Argonauts after three games. In only nine games with the Argos in 1969 he compiled the following rushing stats:

1969 - 129 carries with an average of 6.4 yards per carry for a total of 829 yards

Meanwhile Amos Van Pelt was really disappointing:

Amos Van Pelt

1969 - 121 carries with an average of 4.2 yards per carry for a total of 504 yards
1970 - 92 carries with an average of 3.8 yards per carry for a total of 346 yards

It’s a completely one-sided comparison between the two.

:slightly_smiling_face:

Okay, I take back what I said about Raimey.

After checking the records I see Leo Lewis finished in 66 so that was a fairly formidable backfield of the day in Raimey’s first two years. Things went further downhill after Ken Ploen retired in 67 and Raimey was left as the only weapon. His 1968 stats reflect accordingly. Could have been Van Pelt that caused the controversy and made Raimey expendable but no one was going to help make that 69 team win. I don’t remember Raimey lighting up the league after going to Toronto.

Truly formidable in 1965 anyway as in the twilight of his career Leo Lewis carried the ball 154 times with an average of 5.4 yards per carry for a total of 828 yards.

:slightly_smiling_face:

Not only is Andrew Harris a beast on the field but also one of the most creative with touchdown celebrations. The bobble head should go down as one of the best ever and his personal trademark imo. My fav was the elephant pack among the many others.

Honorable mention to Alex Suber and the pick 6 plank on the all time list.

The Lincoln Locomotive was my first pick , followed by Raimey , and Reaves . As a die hard TiCat fan , I saw these players run amok against my Cats . When Bud Grant said that Lewis was the best he ever coached , Grant was the coach of the NFL Vikings .
The Bombers have developed spectacular RBs over the years . I wish we had that secret formula .

Pat Lynch (Go Cats)

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And he went on to a great career with Wash Red Skins. Not many CFL players go back south and make such an impact like Mike and of course Joe Theisman. Mike was a knock you down, time and again running back and did it in the NFL. I’m surprised he wasn’t on the list in the first place.

Whatever Mike Sellers did south of the border doesn’t count. He didn’t even reach 450 yards rushing in either of his two seasons with the Bombers and his rushing average wasn’t even 5.0 yards per carry. I just didn’t see him belonging up there with the other names who at one time or another put up stellar numbers for the Bombers.

:neutral_face:

Yep but Cal said he’d never seen a better blocking back

And that's why stats like you quote are important but don't tell the whole story. I note you listed Dave Raimey. When he ran the right plays he broke it open many times. But you may remember that the coach Black Magic Joe Laleski had him run the sweep play after play and he got piled up big time. Joe's call was so frequent that the Wpg fans in disgust would yell "sweep"
before the play as everyone knew what was coming. Bob Picken was disgusted and said so.

Cal never saw a fence post?

:question:

If they don’t, increase your sample size until they do.

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