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.
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Bob Pinkney | HB | Toronto |
6 | Toronto Argonauts | Bob Kimoff | FB | Toronto |
7 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Don Prowse | E | Western Ontario |
8 | Montreal Alouettes | Lionel Quinn | FB | McGill |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Pete Nicholson | T | Queen's |
10 | Toronto Argonauts | Baz Mackie | G | Toronto |
11 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Hank Zuzek | G | Queen's |
12 | Montreal Alouettes | Bill Stevenson | QB | Toronto |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
13 | Ottawa Rough Riders | George Stulac | REC | Toronto |
14 | Toronto Argonauts | Bill Horton | WB | Toronto |
15 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jack Cook | REC | Queen's |
16 | Montreal Alouettes | Herb English | HB | McGill |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Murray Henderson | HB | Western Ontario |
18 | Toronto Argonauts | John Prendergast | OL | Toronto |
19 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jack Pelech | HB | McMaster |
20 | Montreal Alouettes | Ed Olszewski | OL | McGill |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
21 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Bob Turner | REC | Western Ontario |
22 | Toronto Argonauts | John Sopinka | HB | Toronto |
23 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Bruce Day | OL | Toronto |
24 | Montreal Alouettes | Norm Dyson | QB | Queen's |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
25 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Fred Palermo | OL | Toronto |
26 | Toronto Argonauts | Jack Strapp | OL | Toronto |
27 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Murray Howlett | FB | McMaster |
28 | Montreal Alouettes | Norm Levine | OL | Toronto |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
29 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Joe O'Brien | OL | Queen's |
30 | Toronto Argonauts | Mike Yednoez | HB | McMaster |
31 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | John Wismer | OL | Toronto |
32 | Montreal Alouettes | Ross Woods | HB | Toronto |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
33 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Jack Rogers | HB | Toronto |
34 | Toronto Argonauts | Doug Johnson | DL | McMaster |
35 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Wally Mellor | QB | Queens |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
36 | Ottawa Rough Riders | Don Marston | REC | Queen's |
37 | Toronto Argonauts | Hal Blewald | HB | McGill |
38 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Tony Miller | REC | McGill |
Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
39 | Ottawa Rough Riders | John Hiltz | OL | McGill |
40 | Toronto Argonauts | Roger Baikie | HB | McGill |
41 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Earl Merling | OL | McGill |
The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division. As of 2024, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
Russell Stanley Jackson is a former professional Canadian football player. Jackson spent his entire 12-year professional football career with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a member of the Order of Canada, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and has been described as the best Canadian-born quarterback to play in the CFL. In 2006, Jackson was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#8) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN, the highest-ranked Canadian-born player on the list.
Bernie Faloney was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League and an outstanding American college football player at the University of Maryland. Born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Faloney is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame. Faloney's jersey #10 was retired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999. In 2005, Faloney was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's Top 50 Players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.
Paul Frederick Bennett is a former award-winning and all-star defensive back in the Canadian Football League and Grey Cup champion.
The CFL draft is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from the ranks of U Sports football or NCAA college football. Member clubs make selections based on the reverse order of the previous year's standings, with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection, the Grey Cup runner-up getting the second-to-last selection and the Grey Cup champion selecting last. The draft is held once every year, approximately six weeks prior to the start of the upcoming season.
Kenneth Leroy Carpenter was an American football halfback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Denver Broncos in the American Football League (AFL) in the 1950s and 1960. Following his playing career, Carpenter coached during the 1960s in the CFL, NFL and a variety of smaller leagues in the United States.
Charles Ray Hunsinger was an American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons during the 1950s. Hunsinger played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Bears of the NFL and the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.
Richard Darrell Shatto was a professional Canadian football player for the Canadian Football League (CFL) Toronto Argonauts. Shatto also served as the Argonauts general manager after his playing days with the club ended.
U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of U Sports: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, and Atlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, the champions of each conference advance to semifinal bowl games; the winners of these meet in the Vanier Cup national championship.
John Jay "Big John" Kissell was an American football defensive tackle who played for the Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1940s and 1950s. He played college football at Boston College.
The 2008 Montreal Alouettes season was the 42nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 56th overall. The Alouettes finished first place in the East Division, won the East Final and advanced to the 96th Grey Cup in Montreal, where they lost to the Calgary Stampeders.
Douglas Stewart McNichol was a professional Canadian football player with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts. After playing college football at the University of Western Ontario, McNichol was drafted first overall by the Alouettes in the first ever Canadian College Draft in 1953 and spent his entire 11-year CFL career as a defensive lineman. McNichol won East All-Star honours in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958 and 1959.
James Franklin Dempsey was an American college and professional football player who was a linebacker and lineman in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons in the 1950s. Dempsey played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Bears of the NFL and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL.
Bernard Eugene Custis was an American and Canadian football player who went on to a distinguished coaching career. He is known for having been the first black professional quarterback in the modern era and first in professional Canadian football, starting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1951.
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.