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Fritz Hanson

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Fritz Hanson
Date of birth: (1914-07-13)July 13, 1914
Place of birth: Perham, Minnesota
Date of death: February 14, 1996(1996-02-14) (aged 81)
Place of death: Calgary, Alberta
Career information
Position(s): RB
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College: North Dakota State
Organizations
As player:
1935–1946
1947–1948		 Winnipeg Winnipegs/Blue Bombers
Calgary Stampeders
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star: All-Western running back (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941)
Awards: Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy (1938)
Honors: Grey Cup wins: 1935, 1939, 1941, 1948
Records: 300 punt return yards in a Grey Cup game (1935)
Career stats

Melvin "Fritz" Hanson (July 13, 1914 – February 14, 1996) was a Canadian football player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders. Hanson was signed by the Blue Bombers for $125 a game and free room and board, which was a considerable sum in the cash-strapped dirty thirties. Nicknamed the 'Galloping Ghost', 'Twinkle Toes', and the 'Perham Flash', Hanson was one of the pioneers of football in Western Canada and a huge star at the time. Although he weighed only Script error: No such module "convert". he used his incredible quickness to evade defenders. He helped lead the Blue Bombers to the first Grey Cup victory by a western Canadian team in 1935 and won again with the Bombers in 1939 and 1941.[1][2] In the 1935 Grey Cup Game Hanson recorded 300 punt return yards, a record that still stands today, including a sensational 78-yard return for the winning touchdown.[2] He played with Winnipeg from 1935 through 1946 then spent two years playing for the Calgary Stampeders, where he won a fourth Grey Cup in 1948.[1]

Hanson was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963[1] and inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.[2] He became a Canadian citizen in 1966[2] and, in 2005, Hanson was named one of the Blue Bombers 20 All-Time Greats. He died in Calgary on February 14, 1996, at the age of 81.[3]

Hanson and his wife, Maxine, had four daughters.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Melvin "Fritz" Hanson". Hall of Fame players. Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Fritz Hanson". The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
  3. ^ "Today in History >> February". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 

External links