1955 IRFU college draft

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The 1955 IRFU college draft was the third and final official sports draft held by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a predecessor of the East Division of the Canadian Football League, in the spring of 1955. 41 players were chosen from among eligible players from five eastern universities, McGill University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, and McMaster University. [1] The Ottawa Rough Riders had the first selection, Gino Fracas, in the last draft to feature eastern teams exclusively.

Contents

Round one

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
1 Ottawa Rough Riders Gino Fracas HB Western Ontario
2 Toronto Argonauts Alex Macklin T Toronto
3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Don Getty QB Western Ontario
4 Montreal Alouettes Ernie Darragh HB McMaster

Round two

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
5Ottawa Rough Riders Bob Pinkney HBToronto
6Toronto Argonauts Bob Kimoff FB Toronto
7Hamilton Tiger-Cats Don Prowse E Western Ontario
8Montreal Alouettes Lionel Quinn FB McGill

Round three

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
9Ottawa Rough Riders Pete Nicholson T Queen's
10Toronto Argonauts Baz Mackie G Toronto
11Hamilton Tiger-Cats Hank Zuzek GQueen's
12Montreal Alouettes Bill Stevenson QBToronto

Round four

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
13Ottawa Rough RidersGeorge StulacRECToronto
14Toronto ArgonautsBill HortonWBToronto
15Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jack Cook RECQueen's
16Montreal Alouettes Herb English HBMcGill

Round five

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
17Ottawa Rough RidersMurray HendersonHBWestern Ontario
18Toronto Argonauts John Prendergast OLToronto
19Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jack Pelech HBMcMaster
20Montreal Alouettes Ed Olszewski OLMcGill

Round six

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
21Ottawa Rough RidersBob TurnerRECWestern Ontario
22Toronto Argonauts John Sopinka HBToronto
23Hamilton Tiger-CatsBruce DayOLToronto
24Montreal AlouettesNorm DysonQBQueen's

Round seven

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
25Ottawa Rough RidersFred PalermoOLToronto
26Toronto ArgonautsJack StrappOLToronto
27Hamilton Tiger-CatsMurray HowlettFBMcMaster
28Montreal AlouettesNorm LevineOLToronto

Round eight

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
29Ottawa Rough RidersJoe O'BrienOLQueen's
30Toronto ArgonautsMike YednoezHBMcMaster
31Hamilton Tiger-CatsJohn WismerOLToronto
32Montreal AlouettesRoss WoodsHBToronto

Round nine

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
33Ottawa Rough RidersJack RogersHBToronto
34Toronto ArgonautsDoug JohnsonDLMcMaster
35Hamilton Tiger-CatsWally MellorQBQueens

Round ten

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
36Ottawa Rough RidersDon MarstonRECQueen's
37Toronto ArgonautsHal BlewaldHBMcGill
38Hamilton Tiger-CatsTony MillerRECMcGill

Round eleven

Pick #CFL teamPlayerPositionCollege
39Ottawa Rough RidersJohn HiltzOLMcGill
40Toronto ArgonautsRoger BaikieHBMcGill
41Hamilton Tiger-CatsEarl MerlingOLMcGill

[2]


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The 1952 IRFU college draft was an unofficial sports draft held by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a predecessor of the East Division of the Canadian Football League, in the spring of 1952. The concept was first developed at a meeting between Eastern officials on April 6, 1952. In the meeting, the delegates agreed, in principle, that eligible college athletes would be selected by member clubs with the last place team selecting first in each round. While the draft was unofficial, players selected in this draft were indeed added to the rosters of the clubs that had drafted them.

The 1953 IRFU college draft was the first official sports draft held by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a predecessor of the East Division of the Canadian Football League, in the spring of 1953. 40 players were chosen from among eligible players from five eastern universities, McGill University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, and McMaster University. The Montreal Alouettes had the first selection, Doug McNichol, who became the first player to be drafted to a Canadian professional football team.

The 1954 IRFU college draft was the second official sports draft held by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a predecessor of the East Division of the Canadian Football League, in the spring of 1954. 32 players were chosen from among eligible players from five eastern universities, McGill University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, and McMaster University. The Toronto Argonauts had the first selection, Bill McFarlane, in a draft where only six players would ever play in a professional football game.

The following is a list of first round selections from Canadian college drafts from 1956 to 1969, which are annual sports drafts in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) selected eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from the ranks of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football or NCAA college football. Member clubs made selections based on the reverse order of the previous year's standings, with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection. Prior to 1956, only Interprovincial Rugby Football Union clubs participated in the draft while the Western Interprovincial Football Union not only chose by territorial rights, but would also try to sign away players that were drafted by eastern clubs. To create a level playing field, the Canadian Football Council was formed which later evolved into the Canadian Football League. Following the creation of the CFC, all nine member clubs participated in the 1956 draft. The order of selection was determined by reverse record with the losing conference picking first.

References

  1. Draft History Archived 2013-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "1955 CFL Draft". Canadian Football League. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019.