Ron Lancaster's story is the history of almost half a century of the Canadian
Football League. He's done it all - from quarterback and head coach, to
general manager and broadcaster. An American export turned Canadian hero,
his was a triumph of skill and brains over brawn and bravado. An underdog
who rose to glory in an underdog league, the "Little General" battled the
odds to become a football legend.
Lancaster's roots run deep in the blue collar steel town of
Clairton, Pennsylvania, where football was a religion. A standout high school
quarterback, he lacked one major attribute - size. A mere 5'5'' tall, Lancaster
was shunned by the big U.S. colleges. Instead he played for Ohio's tiny
Wittenburg University, where he gained a reputation for his great throwing
arm and strong leadership. Overlooked by the NFL, he was scouted by a team
he'd barely heard of - the Ottawa Roughriders. And the rest is CFL history.
Dramatic football footage illustrates a rollercoaster career. From "the
Miracle Game" of 1963, when "the little General" lead underdog Saskatchewan
to last minute victory over Calgary, to losing streaks and Grey Cup glory
- this is the story of a man with an indomitable will. A who's who of football
greats shared anecdotes and memories after his passing- including Russ Jackson,
"Ron and I first crossed paths in 1960 in Ottawa," said Russ Jackson, the legendary former Riders quarterback. "We sat beside each other in the locker-room but it was never a situation where 'I hate you, I don't want you to do well.' I think that was because of our personalities and that we both appreciated each other's ability and understanding of the game."Hugh Campbell
Despite being rivals, Jackson said he and Lancaster always wanted to help each other out.
"If the team did well, then we all did well," said Jackson. "In those days, you played with many of the same players for years and developed relationships with them. Later on, Ron and I became very close friends when he was coaching the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and I was working on the radio broadcasts because we'd spend a lot of time talking about football."
Campbell said as a player Lancaster was a stickler for detail and demanded that his team practise hard because it would carry over to the football field. It's those qualities, Campbell added, that made Lancaster a great coach.and George Reed.
"It was just the smoothest and greatest of situations because he had a good idea of what to do and what he wanted to do and had a way of demanding it," he said. "At the same time all the players knew that he loved them and was on their side.
"As a player he was the toughest mentally. He made sure in practice you hustled as hard as you did in a game so that he could get the feel for what it would be like in the game. As a coach, his players had a great feel for him, the fans had a great feel for him because they had confidence he knew what he was doing."
On the sidelines, Lancaster earned a reputation of being a player's coach. He'd often give his troops the freedom to have fun, but demanded discipline and dedication on the field.
"Ron was a person people gravitated to," said former punter Sean Flemming, who played for Lancaster in Edmonton. "Loyal to his players almost to a fault, genuine to those he didn't know.
"Ron always said that the biggest compliment you could give a football player was to call him just that, a player. Someone who went out and did their job without any other reason but for the love of the game and for those around him. Ron was all that and more: He was a player, he was a coach, but most of all he was a great man."
"We'd always have to grab him by the neck and put him on the bus, otherwise we would've been sitting there for three years (talking to people)," said George Reed, the Riders' legendary fullback. "He had that way of really mingling with the people and giving them his time and talking to them.
"He just had a way with people and people loved to talk to him. He always had time."
and Bob both played quarterback and coached, and grandson Marc is the high school quarterback.
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