RIDER PRIDE

REGINA -- Quarterbacks Ron Lancaster and Russ Jackson would have swapped lives, and altered the sporting landscape of two different cities, if the fates had cut through a different hole in 1963.

“Ronnie and I often talked about that. We wondered what would have happened,” Jackson mused Tuesday when asked how his life would have changed had the Ottawa Rough Riders opted to trade him to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1963 rather than Lancaster.

“As it turned out, it was the best for both of us.”

Jackson — the guest speaker at Thursday’s University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ Dogs’ Breakfast — was locked in a two-quarterback duel with Lancaster through the early 1960s. Both men knew somebody had to go; the question was who?

At stake — though nobody knew it at the time — were storied careers by two football legends still in their formative years. Ottawa shipped Lancaster to Saskatchewan for $500 and the promise that the western Riders would never trade him to another eastern team.

“We often wondered about that, and I don’t think either of us ever knew why Coach (Frank) Clair traded Ronnie and not me,” Jackson said from his home in Burlington, Ont. “We guessed a little bit, and it was that I had “Canadian” tattooed on me which meant he could keep an import at another position. But whether that was it, who knows?”

Jackson, the best Canadian-born quarterback to ever play in the CFL, went on a brilliant career with Ottawa.

Lancaster, meanwhile, spent 16 seasons with Saskatchewan and emerged as the CFL’s all-time leader in every major passing category. He died this past September, and Jackson will be part of a Thursday tribute to Lancaster set up by Dogs’ Breakfast organizers.

Jackson lost to Lancaster’s Roughriders in the 1966 Grey Cup, but beat his former teammate in the 1969 title game. That 29-11 victory over Saskatchewan was also the last game Jackson ever played; he retired, despite winning the CFL’s outstanding player award that season as well as the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s male athlete-of-the-year.

“Football was Ronnie’s life,” Jackson says. “I can’t say that about myself; football was my hobby and education was my profession. With Ronnie, football was his profession and his entire life. He had ups and downs. There were times when Saskatchewan people weren’t in his corner; when he first started to coach out there and wasn’t having much success, they were almost drumming him out of town. But overall, he was the perfect guy for Saskatchewan. He was quiet, down-to-earth and he loved football. And Saskatchewan loves football, too.”

Jackson notes that the fates twining him with Lancaster run even deeper.
Lancaster joined Ottawa as a defensive back in 1960, and moved behind centre when Jackson got hurt prior to a game against Montreal. Lancaster won that game and caught the attention of his coaches.

“The rest is history,” Jackson said. “If I hadn’t gotten hurt, who knows if Ronnie would have had a chance? I never missed a game after that. You think of the Bill Van Burkleos, Bill Clines and Bob O’Billoviches who all played defensive back and were backup quarterbacks, they never got a chance to prove whether they could or couldn’t play quarterback. Things fall into place for some reason, and it just happened that way. And when the trade was made, it fell into place even moreso for both of us because we were still young.”