They will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at the football club’s Legacy Dinner, slated for WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 beginning at 7 p.m. at Canad Inns Polo Park. Tickets for the dinner are available by visiting the Bomber office at Canad Inns Stadium or by calling (204) 784-2583, ext. 0.

The dinner is a lead-up to the annual Hall of Fame game, which will take place June 23 at Canad Inns Stadium at 7 p.m. featuring the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts.

Complete bios of each of the inductees are included below.


BUILDERS

Dr. Ross Brown first joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers organization in 1982 as a member of the team’s board of directors. He moved up to become a member of the board’s executive committee in 1984 as chair of the Bomber Dinner Committee. That was followed by stints as vice-president of the Bombers’ Board of Directors, an alternate delegate on the CFL Board of Governors and a member of the Bombers’ selection committee.

Brown served as president of the Winnipeg Football Club in 1988, when the team won the Grey Cup in Ottawa, and 1989. During that time he also sat on the CFL Board of Governors and served as a liaison between the football club and Winnipeg Enterprises. In addition, he working tirelessly promoting the team in the corporate community and was a member of the 1991 Grey Cup planning committee.

As past president of the club, he attended CFL board meetings as an alternate delegate and was a liaison with the 1991 Grey Cup organizing committee. Brown also served as a member of the Winnipeg Football Club’s Hall of Fame committee.

In 1997 he was appointed to the Winnipeg Football Club’s Honourary Council.

Joe Wilder had a long and distinguished history with the Winnipeg Football Club. He joined the team’s board of directors in 1971 and filled various posts with the organization until the early-1980s.

His first post was as a member of the club’s annual dinner committee in 1971. He fulfilled a wide variety of jobs as a member of the management committee during the following years including secretary (1974-78), vice-president (1979), president (1980-81) and past-president (1982). In 1984, he sat as a member of the football club’s Hall of Fame selection committee.

The Bomber executive spearheaded a number of new initiatives during Wilder’s tenure with the team. That included the hiring of full-time media and marketing directors and overseeing the development of a line of Blue Bomber merchandise. The Bomber executive laid the groundwork for what is now the Blue & Gold Room with the creation of the Blue & Gold Club, which held annual fund-raising dinners at the old Winnipeg Arena. Wilder was named an Honourary Life Member of the Winnipeg Football Club’s board of directors in 1985.

He is currently a partner in the law firm of Wilder Wilder & Langtry.


PLAYERS

Michael Gray spent seven seasons as a member of the Blue & Gold (1987-1993). During that time he played in three Grey Cups (1988, 1990 and 1992) and was part of two CFL championship teams (1988 and 1990).

Gray broke into the CFL in 1984 as a member of the B.C. Lions and was saluted as the Schenley Award winner as the CFL Rookie of the Year. He followed up his rookie season by being named a CFL All-Star in 1985.

After spending the 1986 season with the Ottawa Roughriders, he joined the Blue Bombers for the 1987 season. He played in 17 games for the Bombers that season, registering 37 tackles, 36 assisted tackles, 10 quarterback sacks and one fumble recovery.

There was no slumping for Gray in his sophomore season with the Blue & Gold. He played in all 18 games, collecting 54 tackles, 37 assisted tackles, 11 quarterback sacks and one fumble recovery.

One of the highlights of Gray’s CFL career was the 1988 Grey Cup game, which pitted the Bombers against the B.C. Lions. Gray intercepted Lions’ QB Matt Dunigan’s pass near the Bomber goal line to preserve a Winnipeg victory. His stellar play during the regular season and in the playoffs earned him the Bert Oja Award as the Bombers’ top lineman that season.

Gray was Mr. Consistency for the Bombers in 1989. Playing in all 18 regular season games, he collected 30 tackles, 26 assisted tackles and one fumble recovery and led the team in QB sacks with 11. That performance earned him a nomination as a CFL Eastern Division All-Star.

In 1990, Gray played in all 18 regular season games for Winnipeg. He finished the regular season with 30 defensive tackles, 26 assisted tackles, five quarterback sacks and one fumble recovery. Gray was also an integral part of the Blue Bomber team that beat the Edmonton Eskimos in that year’s Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver.

Gray enjoyed another solid season in 1991 when he collected 41 defensive tackles, 37 assisted tackles, two QB sacks and two fumble recoveries. He also scored one touchdown.

In 1992, he registered 28 defensive tackles, 37 assisted tackles, four QB sacks and one fumble recovery during the regular season. He was also a member of the Bomber team that lost 24-10 to the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup in Toronto.

The 1993 season was Gray’s swansong in the CFL. Playing in only three games, he finished the season with seven tackles and four assisted tackles. He retired following the ’93 season.


Brett MacNeil played 12 seasons in the CFL, including 10 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played in three Grey Cups (1992, 1993, 2001) and was named a CFL All-Star in 2001.

MacNeil was a first round draft choice of the Ottawa Roughriders in the 1991 CFL College Draft. He was traded to the Blue Bombers prior to the start of the 1992 season.

He established himself as a CFL regular in 1993, playing in all 18 regular season Bomber games and starting 17 of them at guard. He was part of an offensive line that gave up the fewest QB sacks that season (20). He also recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter of a playoff game versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that set-up a game winning field goal.

Between 1994 and 1996 MacNeil played in 49 regular season contests for the Bombers, missing only five due to injury.

MacNeil was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos in 1998 and spent one season with the Bombers’ western rivals before returning to the Blue & Gold fold in 1999, when he played in all 18 regular season games for the team.

In 2000, MacNeil appeared in 13 regular season games and two playoff contests for Winnipeg. His play in a semi-final victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was symbolic of MacNeil’s entire CFL career. One sportswriter commented that MacNeil’s blood-stained jersey proved he was “one of the toughest and meanest players to ever play in Winnipeg.” MacNeil played in 17 regular season games and two playoff contests in 2001, including a Grey Cup loss to the Calgary Stampeders in Montreal. He retired following the 2002 season after appearing in just seven games due to injury.

In addition to his football career, MacNeil wrestled professionally, including a stint in the WWE. He currently teaches wing chun do at his own dojo in Winnipeg.

Dave VanKoughnett spent 11 seasons in the CFL, all of them with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played in two Grey Cups in 1992 and 1993 and was a CFL Divisional All-Star in ’93.

VanKoughnett broke into the CFL in 1989 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who traded him to the Blue Bombers. He appeared in one game for the Blue & Gold that season.

In 1991, VanKoughnett played in 16 games for the Blue Bombers. Following the retirement of former player, and current Bomber president and CEO Lyle Bauer, ‘Vanky’ was installed as the team’s new regular centre in 1992. He and the rest of the Bombers’ ‘Hogs’ helped pave the way for running back Michael Richardson to become the CFL’s leading rusher that season.

VanKoughnett played in all 18 regular seasons for the Bombers in 1993. He was part of an offensive line that gave up the fewest QB sacks in the CFL that season (20) and was named an East Division All-Star. He was an integral part of the team’s march to the Grey Cup, a game the Bombers lost 33-23 to the Edmonton Eskimos.

Between 1994 and 2000 VanKoughnett was a model of consistency for the Blue Bombers. He didn’t miss a single regular season contest during that span. In 1995 he was named the Bombers’ outstanding offensive lineman. VanKoughnett retired from football following the 2000 season.

VanKoughnett’s contributions off the field were as vital as the ones he made on it. In 1996, ’97 and again in ’99 he was the Bombers’ nominee for the Tom Pate Memorial Award, which recognizes courage outstanding citizenship and community service. He was an active volunteer with a number of charities including the Canadian Liver Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Readathon program and Winnipeg Harvest.

VanKoughnett continues to live in Winnipeg. He is a partner with another former Bomber, recently-retired fullback Wade Miller, in Pinnacle Staffing Solutions.