May 5, 2006
WESTERN INDUCTS THIRD CLASS OF FOOTBALL GREATS
LONDON - The Western Mustangs and the Champions Club, proud supporters of Mustang Football, inducted its third class of inductees to the Mustang Football Wall of Champions Thursday, May 4.
Few football teams at any level can claim a more distinguished tradition of high achievement and glory than Mustang Football. That proud tradition is the result of the players, coaches, and support people who have graced this University since football was established.
The following individuals are the 2006 inductees:
PLAYERS
Frank Turville
Gino Fracas
Lionel Conacher Jr.
Craig Labbett
Michael Kirkley
Sean Reade
COACHES/BUILDERS
Dr. Peter Fowler
Allen Philbrick
The dinner and induction ceremony was held Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Hall, The University of Western Ontario. Over 300 football alumni, family and friends attended the gala event.
SEAN READE
Sean Reade began his freshman year at Western in grand fashion, receiving the Norm Marshall Trophy as the 1992 OUA rookie of the year and the Peter Gorman Trophy as the most outstanding rookie in Canada. What followed was a career shattering the Western record books and the accumulation of numerous trophies.
An OUA all-star running back all four years he was at Western he was named CIS All-Canadian in 1994 and 1995. A member of the 1994 Vanier Cup Championship team he was the Dalt White Trophy recipient as the MVP of the Yates Cup game in both in 1994 and 1995.
During his senior year in 1995 he rushed for 1,062 yards, the second highest single season total in Mustang history. He tallied 14 touchdowns that season while also hauling in 19 receptions for another 317 yards of offense. The "˜95 season also witnessed him being named the Omega trophy winner as the MVP of the Ontario conference and the Don Loney Trophy winner as the MVP of the Atlantic Bowl, where he tied a school record, scoring five touchdowns in one game. The season was capped by being named the George McCullough recipient as team MVP and the Claude Brown Memorial Trophy winner, as the school's most outstanding athlete.
Upon graduation he was a second round draft choice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and eventually finished his CFL career with the Ottawa Rough Riders.
When it was all said and done this slashing speed demon of a tailback had become the second leading kick off returner in Mustang history, set the record for the longest punt return in school history at 103 yards, had scored 34 touchdowns tying a school record that stood for ten years and became Western's all time career leading rusher with 2,905 yards.
GINO FRACAS
A two-way player at running back and linebacker Gino Fracas was a perennial league all-star being chosen three consecutive years beginning in 1952. Also handling the Mustang kicking duties this multi-dimensional weapon led the league in scoring for both the 1953 and 1954 seasons.
A hard charging running back he helped lead the Mustangs to back to back Yates Cup championships in 1952 and 1953, and was awarded the George McCullough trophy in 1954 as the team MVP.
A first round draft choice of the Ottawa Roughriders he ended up with the Edmonton Eskimos for his entire eight year CFL career. A team captain and defensive signal caller this tough nosed linebacker appeared in three Grey Cup games, winning two championships in 1955 and 1956.
Jumping straight from the Eskimos playing field to the University of Alberta head coach position, he led them to three league championships in the next four years. In 1963 his team won the Golden Bowl, the unofficial university National Championship and in 1965 they appeared in the very first College Bowl.
Returning to his hometown of Windsor to become the first head coach of the Windsor Lancer football program it was not long before they won the Central Canada Intercollegiate football conference championship in 1969 and claimed an OUAA co-championship in 1975. He was named the OUAA West coach of the year in 1976 and 1977 and in 1979 served as head coach of the Canadian CIAU all-star team in the second annual Can-Am bowl game.
An inaugural member of the OUA Football Legends Wall of Fame as a player, coach, scholar and administrator, the CIS annually recognizes a university volunteer assistant coach of the year in Canada with a trophy named in his honor, the Gino Fracas Award.
ALLEN PHILBRICK
A former college cross-country runner, Allen Philbrick a Western geography professor went for a jog across the university campus in the fall of 1971. Stopping to take in some of the football game from the booze hill vantage point, he slipped into the stadium went to the sideline and found himself standing beside his friend, Mustang Head Coach Frank Cosentino. After the Mustangs scored a touchdown Cosentino turned and said "Hey, Al you brought us good luck". Saying it was time to go Philbrick acted on impulse and took off on a lap around the stadium track celebrating the touchdown. A tradition was born.
After the game, Cosentino called to see if Al would be interested in becoming a faculty advisor to the team, a position that eventually became permanent and that he still holds today. As the 1971 season continued so did Al's touchdowns laps which brought the team luck all the way to the College Bowl Championship.
Running for both home and away games "Big Al" as he is affectionately referred to by the players soon became a fan favorite, who would initiate the chant "Albert", "Albert" as he did his lap around the stadium.
Years of running through hostile away crowds, Al overcame U of T water bombs, an attempted ban by the University of Guelph administration and a head-on out of bounds collision with a Varsity running back. His feisty manner and strong Mustang allegiance also led to a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty when he went out on the field to argue a referee's call.
At the age of 86 and covering close to 200 miles of the Western track, a quarter mile at a time Professor Allen Philbrick took his last official lap on September 16th, 2000 after the first mustang touchdown was scored in the new TD Waterhouse stadium.
A running football legacy his beautiful drawing of the old J.W. Little Memorial Stadium will always bring back memories of past Mustang glories.
FRANK TURVILLE
A member of the Mustang football team from 1925 to 1927, Frank Turville was an instrumental part of Western winning its first Canadian Intercollegiate Football title in 1927. Playing on the Western "Oval" the new rugby field, Turville helped pour the concrete footings at this future site of J. W. Little Memorial stadium.
During the 1927 season Western won the Intermediate group title defeating St. Michael's College of Toronto 11 to 10. Turville kicked six points including two 50 yard singles in the final quarter to win the game.
In an era when the forward pass was still illegal and a premium was placed on the ability to punt the ball in order to score points, Turville kicked all six points in the final game of a two game series defeating Loyola College of Montreal 6-2 for the Canadian Intermediate football title.
Also an outstanding basketball player, Turville was a member of the 1926-27 Senior basketball team which won Western's first school championship in any Senior Intercollegiate sport.
The epitome of the student-athlete Frank Turville acted as the secretary-elect for the honor society, president of the Literacy Society, Sports Editor of the Western Gazette student newspaper, Speaker of the Student's Administrative Assembly, member of the Intercollegiate Debater's team, Editor of the Occidental Yearbook and helped organize the Western Tennis Club and it's entry into intercollegiate athletics.
Upon graduation he entered Osgood Hall Law School and joined the Toronto Argonauts football club who were members of the Interprovincial Big Four circuit, the forerunner to the CFL.
In one of his first Big Four games he rushed for 177 yards and scored 18 points. By the end of his rookie year in 1928 he was recognized as an outstanding defensive rear guard, a star halfback and a kicking ace. As team captain of the Argos in 1930, Turville was awarded the Jeff Russell Trophy as league MVP, the highest recognized individual award in Canadian football.
The big fast 180 pounder was now known throughout the league as the "Galloping Lawyer" and a job with a new law firm in Hamilton saw his transfer to the Hamilton Tigers where in 1932 he helped lead them to the Grey Cup title, defeating the Regina Rough Riders.
By the time of his retirement from football in 1936 he had won three scoring titles, garnered another nomination for the Jeff Russell Trophy, had kicked eight singles in one game on three different occasions, a record that is still in the CFL record books today and was recognized as one of the greatest all-around back fielders in the history of the Interprovincial league and arguably one of the greatest punters in the history of Canadian football.
PETER FOWLER
As a Mustang swimming sensation Pete Fowler set records in the 200yd butterfly, the 400yd freestyle, the 400yd freestyle relay and Canadian College and Canadian Open records in the 200 and 400yd medley relays.
As team captain and MVP he helped lead the Mustangs to an intercollegiate tile in 1960. Competing at a time when rules allowed unlimited eligibility the medical student Fowler won 13 O-QAA gold medals over an eight year swimming career. In 1963 he was co-winner of the Dr. Claude Brown Memorial trophy as the school's top athlete. While representing his country at the Pan Am Games in 1955 and 1959 he brought home a silver medal for Canada.
Pete Fowler's connection to the Mustang football team began early in his under grad days when he worked in J.W. Little Stadium handing out gym rolls to the players.
His real impact came as Dr. Peter Fowler who along with Dr. Jack Kennedy established an athletic injuries clinic in the basement of Thames Hall in 1974. This small clinic would ultimately become the leading sport medicine operation in North America. The clinic eventually outgrew its existing space which led to the construction of a 16,000 square foot facility renamed in 1997 the Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic, in honor of two decades of outstanding teaching, research and care by Dr's Fowler and Kennedy. The clinic now operates out of four different locations in London seeing thousands of patients each year.
As Director of Sport Medicine and Physician in charge of Western's intercollegiate teams Dr. Fowler's passion and commitment for the Western football program places the Mustang football players at the forefront of medical care and treatment across Canada.
An internationally renowned orthopedic surgeon Fowler is a pioneer in the treatment of sport-related injuries; he has received the Sport Medicine Council of Canada Lifetime Achievement award in 1992, was recognized in Best Doctor's, 1994, and was the first recipient of the Westerns Alumni professional Achievement award. Past president of the America Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and has served as Chief medical officer to Canadian National teams at Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
LIONEL CONACHER JR.
Arriving at Western in 1956 Lionel Conacher Jr. son of Canada's Athlete of the first half century Lionel "Big Train" Conacher made his own mark on Western athletics.
Achieving four first colors in football he was a member of the 1957 undefeated Yates Cup team and part of a championship wresting team during the 1956-57 season.
Conacher saved his most outstanding athletic accomplishments for his senior year.
The 1959 season witnessed Conacher having one of the greatest individual seasons of any running back in Mustang history. Over a span of eight games he carried the ball 208 times for a total of 1,370 yards averaging six and half yards per carry.
The team went undefeated in the regular season while Conacher saved his biggest games for the playoffs. Beginning with the Yates Cup game he carried the ball forty-four times for a total of 231 yards rushing, helping the Mustangs to a 55 to 13 defeat of Queens.
This victory placed Western in the first ever Canadian Intercollegiate Football Championship game pitting the East champions verse the West champions in order to lay claim to the Sir Winston Churchill Trophy.
A tough fullback in Western's double fullback system, the Mustangs opened the championship game with a twelve play drive calling upon Lionel "Little big train" Conacher to run the ball on seven off tackle plays, leading to an opening drive seven nothing lead. In all Conacher carried the ball 25 times for 269 yards, scored four touchdowns, one coming off a 68-yard screen pass, in helping lead the Mustangs to their first football national championship, defeating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 34 to 7.
The conclusion to this perfect season witnessed Conacher being named a Canadian Press all-star and recipient of the George McCullough trophy as team MVP. In the spring of 1960 he was the first round draft choice of the Montreal Alouettes where he would play out his CFL career.
CRAIG LABBETT
Craig Labbett is one of a handful of Canadian College football players who can lay claim to being part of three national championship teams, winning the College Bowl in 1974 and back to back championships in 1976 and 1977.
The Mustang offense took advantage of this six foot, three inch, two hundred and five pound tight end's run blocking and pass catching talents, giving opposing defenses across Canada nightmares.
Hauling in passes from Robinson, Bone and Ford he was named an OUA all-star in 1975, "˜76 and "˜77. Thrilling Mustang fans with highlight reel catches throughout the regular season, Yates Cup games and Forest City Bowl games he was voted All Canadian in 1976 and 1977 and made opposing teams re-evaluate the way they used their own tight ends.
Lining up tight to the line of scrimmage he shattered the Western receiving records setting an all-time reception mark of 61 catches for 1,273 yards at a 21 yard per reception average, standards that placed him upon his graduation as the top receiver in Western football history and kept him there for the next fifteen years.
In 1978 he was chosen to represent Canada as part of the Canadian All-star team to play in the inaugural Can Am Bowl game in Tampa, Florida, a team that elected him co-captain. In the spring of 1978 he was a first round draft choice of the Montreal Alouettes and would eventually play with the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger Cats throughout his CFL career.
MICHAEL KIRKLEY
A Mustang running back from 1978 to 1981, Mike Kirkley was one of the toughest football players ever to don a purple and white jersey. An OUA all-star in 1981 he was part of several star studded Western backfields that included the likes of Greg Marshall and Ryan Potter. The combination of speed and power from this unstoppable running game led the Mustangs to three straight Yates Cup Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
Kirkley, a threat as both an inside and outside runner was also a terror on special teams highlighted by his memorable performance in the 1981 OUAA playoff game verse the Laurier Golden Hawks when he took back a kick-off for a 101 yard touchdown return.
At the conclusion of his senior year he was the first overall selection of the Toronto Argonauts in the 1982 CFL entry draft, a career which would include stops with the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.
Mike Kirkley's impact on the Mustang football program was not only limited to the field for his legacy will forever be remembered in the form of the Champions Club an organization he created in conjunction with friend and former Mustang coach Jeff Fisher in the spring of 2002.
Under the guidance and leadership of Kirkley and Fisher the club developed a mission to support and enhance the championship tradition of Mustang football and to ensure that all present and future Mustang players who wear the purple and white have the resources they need to become champions. As an immediate result of this vision the adopt-a- player program was born and the Wall of Champions an evening to honor past Mustang greats was created.
(Source: Jeff Renaud, Western Sports Information.)
(Photo: Western's Wall of Champions Class of 2006.)
Few football teams at any level can claim a more distinguished tradition of high achievement and glory than Mustang Football. That proud tradition is the result of the players, coaches, and support people who have graced this University since football was established.
The following individuals are the 2006 inductees:
PLAYERS
Frank Turville
Gino Fracas
Lionel Conacher Jr.
Craig Labbett
Michael Kirkley
Sean Reade
COACHES/BUILDERS
Dr. Peter Fowler
Allen Philbrick
The dinner and induction ceremony was held Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Hall, The University of Western Ontario. Over 300 football alumni, family and friends attended the gala event.
SEAN READE
Sean Reade began his freshman year at Western in grand fashion, receiving the Norm Marshall Trophy as the 1992 OUA rookie of the year and the Peter Gorman Trophy as the most outstanding rookie in Canada. What followed was a career shattering the Western record books and the accumulation of numerous trophies.
An OUA all-star running back all four years he was at Western he was named CIS All-Canadian in 1994 and 1995. A member of the 1994 Vanier Cup Championship team he was the Dalt White Trophy recipient as the MVP of the Yates Cup game in both in 1994 and 1995.
During his senior year in 1995 he rushed for 1,062 yards, the second highest single season total in Mustang history. He tallied 14 touchdowns that season while also hauling in 19 receptions for another 317 yards of offense. The "˜95 season also witnessed him being named the Omega trophy winner as the MVP of the Ontario conference and the Don Loney Trophy winner as the MVP of the Atlantic Bowl, where he tied a school record, scoring five touchdowns in one game. The season was capped by being named the George McCullough recipient as team MVP and the Claude Brown Memorial Trophy winner, as the school's most outstanding athlete.
Upon graduation he was a second round draft choice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and eventually finished his CFL career with the Ottawa Rough Riders.
When it was all said and done this slashing speed demon of a tailback had become the second leading kick off returner in Mustang history, set the record for the longest punt return in school history at 103 yards, had scored 34 touchdowns tying a school record that stood for ten years and became Western's all time career leading rusher with 2,905 yards.
GINO FRACAS
A two-way player at running back and linebacker Gino Fracas was a perennial league all-star being chosen three consecutive years beginning in 1952. Also handling the Mustang kicking duties this multi-dimensional weapon led the league in scoring for both the 1953 and 1954 seasons.
A hard charging running back he helped lead the Mustangs to back to back Yates Cup championships in 1952 and 1953, and was awarded the George McCullough trophy in 1954 as the team MVP.
A first round draft choice of the Ottawa Roughriders he ended up with the Edmonton Eskimos for his entire eight year CFL career. A team captain and defensive signal caller this tough nosed linebacker appeared in three Grey Cup games, winning two championships in 1955 and 1956.
Jumping straight from the Eskimos playing field to the University of Alberta head coach position, he led them to three league championships in the next four years. In 1963 his team won the Golden Bowl, the unofficial university National Championship and in 1965 they appeared in the very first College Bowl.
Returning to his hometown of Windsor to become the first head coach of the Windsor Lancer football program it was not long before they won the Central Canada Intercollegiate football conference championship in 1969 and claimed an OUAA co-championship in 1975. He was named the OUAA West coach of the year in 1976 and 1977 and in 1979 served as head coach of the Canadian CIAU all-star team in the second annual Can-Am bowl game.
An inaugural member of the OUA Football Legends Wall of Fame as a player, coach, scholar and administrator, the CIS annually recognizes a university volunteer assistant coach of the year in Canada with a trophy named in his honor, the Gino Fracas Award.
ALLEN PHILBRICK
A former college cross-country runner, Allen Philbrick a Western geography professor went for a jog across the university campus in the fall of 1971. Stopping to take in some of the football game from the booze hill vantage point, he slipped into the stadium went to the sideline and found himself standing beside his friend, Mustang Head Coach Frank Cosentino. After the Mustangs scored a touchdown Cosentino turned and said "Hey, Al you brought us good luck". Saying it was time to go Philbrick acted on impulse and took off on a lap around the stadium track celebrating the touchdown. A tradition was born.
After the game, Cosentino called to see if Al would be interested in becoming a faculty advisor to the team, a position that eventually became permanent and that he still holds today. As the 1971 season continued so did Al's touchdowns laps which brought the team luck all the way to the College Bowl Championship.
Running for both home and away games "Big Al" as he is affectionately referred to by the players soon became a fan favorite, who would initiate the chant "Albert", "Albert" as he did his lap around the stadium.
Years of running through hostile away crowds, Al overcame U of T water bombs, an attempted ban by the University of Guelph administration and a head-on out of bounds collision with a Varsity running back. His feisty manner and strong Mustang allegiance also led to a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty when he went out on the field to argue a referee's call.
At the age of 86 and covering close to 200 miles of the Western track, a quarter mile at a time Professor Allen Philbrick took his last official lap on September 16th, 2000 after the first mustang touchdown was scored in the new TD Waterhouse stadium.
A running football legacy his beautiful drawing of the old J.W. Little Memorial Stadium will always bring back memories of past Mustang glories.
FRANK TURVILLE
A member of the Mustang football team from 1925 to 1927, Frank Turville was an instrumental part of Western winning its first Canadian Intercollegiate Football title in 1927. Playing on the Western "Oval" the new rugby field, Turville helped pour the concrete footings at this future site of J. W. Little Memorial stadium.
During the 1927 season Western won the Intermediate group title defeating St. Michael's College of Toronto 11 to 10. Turville kicked six points including two 50 yard singles in the final quarter to win the game.
In an era when the forward pass was still illegal and a premium was placed on the ability to punt the ball in order to score points, Turville kicked all six points in the final game of a two game series defeating Loyola College of Montreal 6-2 for the Canadian Intermediate football title.
Also an outstanding basketball player, Turville was a member of the 1926-27 Senior basketball team which won Western's first school championship in any Senior Intercollegiate sport.
The epitome of the student-athlete Frank Turville acted as the secretary-elect for the honor society, president of the Literacy Society, Sports Editor of the Western Gazette student newspaper, Speaker of the Student's Administrative Assembly, member of the Intercollegiate Debater's team, Editor of the Occidental Yearbook and helped organize the Western Tennis Club and it's entry into intercollegiate athletics.
Upon graduation he entered Osgood Hall Law School and joined the Toronto Argonauts football club who were members of the Interprovincial Big Four circuit, the forerunner to the CFL.
In one of his first Big Four games he rushed for 177 yards and scored 18 points. By the end of his rookie year in 1928 he was recognized as an outstanding defensive rear guard, a star halfback and a kicking ace. As team captain of the Argos in 1930, Turville was awarded the Jeff Russell Trophy as league MVP, the highest recognized individual award in Canadian football.
The big fast 180 pounder was now known throughout the league as the "Galloping Lawyer" and a job with a new law firm in Hamilton saw his transfer to the Hamilton Tigers where in 1932 he helped lead them to the Grey Cup title, defeating the Regina Rough Riders.
By the time of his retirement from football in 1936 he had won three scoring titles, garnered another nomination for the Jeff Russell Trophy, had kicked eight singles in one game on three different occasions, a record that is still in the CFL record books today and was recognized as one of the greatest all-around back fielders in the history of the Interprovincial league and arguably one of the greatest punters in the history of Canadian football.
PETER FOWLER
As a Mustang swimming sensation Pete Fowler set records in the 200yd butterfly, the 400yd freestyle, the 400yd freestyle relay and Canadian College and Canadian Open records in the 200 and 400yd medley relays.
As team captain and MVP he helped lead the Mustangs to an intercollegiate tile in 1960. Competing at a time when rules allowed unlimited eligibility the medical student Fowler won 13 O-QAA gold medals over an eight year swimming career. In 1963 he was co-winner of the Dr. Claude Brown Memorial trophy as the school's top athlete. While representing his country at the Pan Am Games in 1955 and 1959 he brought home a silver medal for Canada.
Pete Fowler's connection to the Mustang football team began early in his under grad days when he worked in J.W. Little Stadium handing out gym rolls to the players.
His real impact came as Dr. Peter Fowler who along with Dr. Jack Kennedy established an athletic injuries clinic in the basement of Thames Hall in 1974. This small clinic would ultimately become the leading sport medicine operation in North America. The clinic eventually outgrew its existing space which led to the construction of a 16,000 square foot facility renamed in 1997 the Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic, in honor of two decades of outstanding teaching, research and care by Dr's Fowler and Kennedy. The clinic now operates out of four different locations in London seeing thousands of patients each year.
As Director of Sport Medicine and Physician in charge of Western's intercollegiate teams Dr. Fowler's passion and commitment for the Western football program places the Mustang football players at the forefront of medical care and treatment across Canada.
An internationally renowned orthopedic surgeon Fowler is a pioneer in the treatment of sport-related injuries; he has received the Sport Medicine Council of Canada Lifetime Achievement award in 1992, was recognized in Best Doctor's, 1994, and was the first recipient of the Westerns Alumni professional Achievement award. Past president of the America Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and has served as Chief medical officer to Canadian National teams at Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
LIONEL CONACHER JR.
Arriving at Western in 1956 Lionel Conacher Jr. son of Canada's Athlete of the first half century Lionel "Big Train" Conacher made his own mark on Western athletics.
Achieving four first colors in football he was a member of the 1957 undefeated Yates Cup team and part of a championship wresting team during the 1956-57 season.
Conacher saved his most outstanding athletic accomplishments for his senior year.
The 1959 season witnessed Conacher having one of the greatest individual seasons of any running back in Mustang history. Over a span of eight games he carried the ball 208 times for a total of 1,370 yards averaging six and half yards per carry.
The team went undefeated in the regular season while Conacher saved his biggest games for the playoffs. Beginning with the Yates Cup game he carried the ball forty-four times for a total of 231 yards rushing, helping the Mustangs to a 55 to 13 defeat of Queens.
This victory placed Western in the first ever Canadian Intercollegiate Football Championship game pitting the East champions verse the West champions in order to lay claim to the Sir Winston Churchill Trophy.
A tough fullback in Western's double fullback system, the Mustangs opened the championship game with a twelve play drive calling upon Lionel "Little big train" Conacher to run the ball on seven off tackle plays, leading to an opening drive seven nothing lead. In all Conacher carried the ball 25 times for 269 yards, scored four touchdowns, one coming off a 68-yard screen pass, in helping lead the Mustangs to their first football national championship, defeating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 34 to 7.
The conclusion to this perfect season witnessed Conacher being named a Canadian Press all-star and recipient of the George McCullough trophy as team MVP. In the spring of 1960 he was the first round draft choice of the Montreal Alouettes where he would play out his CFL career.
CRAIG LABBETT
Craig Labbett is one of a handful of Canadian College football players who can lay claim to being part of three national championship teams, winning the College Bowl in 1974 and back to back championships in 1976 and 1977.
The Mustang offense took advantage of this six foot, three inch, two hundred and five pound tight end's run blocking and pass catching talents, giving opposing defenses across Canada nightmares.
Hauling in passes from Robinson, Bone and Ford he was named an OUA all-star in 1975, "˜76 and "˜77. Thrilling Mustang fans with highlight reel catches throughout the regular season, Yates Cup games and Forest City Bowl games he was voted All Canadian in 1976 and 1977 and made opposing teams re-evaluate the way they used their own tight ends.
Lining up tight to the line of scrimmage he shattered the Western receiving records setting an all-time reception mark of 61 catches for 1,273 yards at a 21 yard per reception average, standards that placed him upon his graduation as the top receiver in Western football history and kept him there for the next fifteen years.
In 1978 he was chosen to represent Canada as part of the Canadian All-star team to play in the inaugural Can Am Bowl game in Tampa, Florida, a team that elected him co-captain. In the spring of 1978 he was a first round draft choice of the Montreal Alouettes and would eventually play with the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger Cats throughout his CFL career.
MICHAEL KIRKLEY
A Mustang running back from 1978 to 1981, Mike Kirkley was one of the toughest football players ever to don a purple and white jersey. An OUA all-star in 1981 he was part of several star studded Western backfields that included the likes of Greg Marshall and Ryan Potter. The combination of speed and power from this unstoppable running game led the Mustangs to three straight Yates Cup Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
Kirkley, a threat as both an inside and outside runner was also a terror on special teams highlighted by his memorable performance in the 1981 OUAA playoff game verse the Laurier Golden Hawks when he took back a kick-off for a 101 yard touchdown return.
At the conclusion of his senior year he was the first overall selection of the Toronto Argonauts in the 1982 CFL entry draft, a career which would include stops with the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.
Mike Kirkley's impact on the Mustang football program was not only limited to the field for his legacy will forever be remembered in the form of the Champions Club an organization he created in conjunction with friend and former Mustang coach Jeff Fisher in the spring of 2002.
Under the guidance and leadership of Kirkley and Fisher the club developed a mission to support and enhance the championship tradition of Mustang football and to ensure that all present and future Mustang players who wear the purple and white have the resources they need to become champions. As an immediate result of this vision the adopt-a- player program was born and the Wall of Champions an evening to honor past Mustang greats was created.
(Source: Jeff Renaud, Western Sports Information.)
(Photo: Western's Wall of Champions Class of 2006.)
