Stampeders.com Staff

Various members of the football community have offered their thoughts on the passing of Wayne Harris who passed away Thursday.

A Stampeders’ Wall of Fame inductee and CFL Hall of Famer, Harris played for the Stampeders from 1961-72 and remained in Calgary following his playing career. He was 77 years old.

Stan Schwartz, executive vice president of the Stamps and consultant to the executive committee: “The passing of Wayne Harris is a sad day in Stampeder country. Knowing Wayne from the early ‘60s, in my opinion he certainly was the greatest defensive player ever to play in the CFL. Besides that, Wayne was always truly a gentleman and very unassuming. If you ever met Wayne, Wayne was very quiet and certainly engaging, but you would never expect Wayne to be the type of player that he was on the field. He certainly had an impact on me. In my second and third year of high school, I wore No. 55.”

Jerry Keeling, quarterback/defensive back who played with Harris for 11 seasons: “I played against him in college also and he was very dominant in college. In the CFL, the one story that I remember is when Winnipeg signed a big running back from New Mexico State who had been in the NFL and came up (to Canada) and he was probably 230 lb. At that time, Wayne I think probably weighed no more than 190 lb. as a middle linebacker. We started the game, playing against him for the first time, and they handed the ball off to him with a big hole in the middle and Wayne met him right there and stopped him cold, picked him up, put him on his back, and after that I don’t think that player ever played very much again.”

Larry Robinson, defensive back/placekicker who won a Grey Cup with Harris in 1971: “He led by example, not by hollering. He was a captain and he called the plays. He could read that line of scrimmage and pretty well let you know by following him where the ball was. He loved it here (in Calgary). His kids grew up here and he was the favourite of a lot of people.”

George Reed, former Saskatchewan Roughrider running back who played against Harris from 1963-72: “I didn’t shake hands with too many defensive players in those days but Wayne and I, we always made sure that we made contact and that’s what I thought was important. I thought it showed the respect we had for one another.”

Ken Newans, former longtime voice of the Calgary Stampeders: “I think Wayne Harris will go down in history as the greatest Stampeder ever. He was a phenom. He was quiet but everybody loved and respected him. There’s no other way to describe him than just a great player. Nobody had to tell him how to cover a play. He knew by instinct where he should be and what he should do. His family loved this city, loved this province, and they loved the Canadian Football League. It’s a big loss, but it was time for him to go and thankfully he went peacefully.”