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January 25, 2017

Number 53

NUMBER FIFTY-THREE
NAME POSITION YEAR
Corey Annett OL 2004-05
Andy Bieber (also #23) HB, FB 1938-41
Roylin Bradley LB 2003
Aaron Brown (also #52) LB 1982-84, 1988
Pete Catan DE 1981-83
Joe Critchlow DT 1969-73
Phil Curry LB 1999-00
Mike Dupree DE 1979
Lloyd Gimsrud DT 1974-75
Herb Gray DE, G 1956-65
Don Hubbard DT 1976-77
Phillip Hunt DE 2009-10
Joe Jackson LB 1985
J.J. Johnson (also #46) LB 2001
Ed Kucy OT 1994-95
John Martini LB 1979
Don Mattingly (also #36) C, G, T 1950-52
Cam Miller (also #47) HB 1949-50
Patrick Neufeld OL 2013-
Steve Okoniewski DE 1978
Steve Patrick (also #63, #66) G, MG 1952-64
Dominic Picard (also #68) OL 2006-08, 2015
Rudy Reschke OL 1968
Bill Restelli G 1966
Brendan Rogers (also #35) LB 1991-95
Bill Smitiuk (also #55) G 1955-57
Albert Williams LB 1990-91
Sean Woodson LB 2005

Canadian Football Hall of Famers:

  • Herb Gray (1983)

 

Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Famers:

  • Herb Gray (1984)
  • Andy Bieber (1985)
  • Steve Patrick (1985)

 

CFL All-Stars:

  • Herb Gray (1962)
  • Pete Catan (1982)
  • Aaron Brown (1984)
  • Phillip Hunt (2010)
  • Patrick Neufeld (2021, 2022)

 

Division All-Stars:

  • Herb Gray (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965)
  • Steve Patrick (1958, 1959)
  • Joe Critchlow (1972)
  • Pete Catan (1982)
  • Aaron Brown (1984)
  • Philip Hunt (2010)
  • Patrick Neufeld (2021, 2022)

 

CFL Award Winners:

  • Most Outstanding Lineman – Herb Gray (1960)

 

Bomber Team Awards:

  • Most Outstanding Canadian – Steve Patrick (1959)
  • Most Outstanding Lineman – Herb Gray (1957, 1959, 1960, 1963); Steve Patrick (1958)
  • Most Outstanding Defensive Player – Aaron Brown 1983, 1984); Phillip Hunt (2010)
  • Most Outstanding Rookie – Pete Catan (1981); Phil Curry (1999)
  • Blue Bomber Ring of Honour – Herb Gray, 2016
  • Ed Kotowich ‘Good Guy Award’ — Pat Neufeld, 2021

 

He Wore It Well:

Herb Gray, DE, G, 1956-65

Gray came to Winnipeg after a stellar career at the Universityof Texas, where he was an All-American guard in 1955, and after being drafted by the Baltimore Colts.

Gray played both ways for the Bombers – as an end and guard – and was an all-star on both sides of the ball. In 1960, he became the first defensive player to capture the CFL’s top lineman award.

How good was Gray? In 1980 he was named the Bombers top defensive player for the first half century of the franchise’s existence, was a team captain in nine of his 10 years in Winnipeg, and is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, University of Texas Hall of Honor, Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame and Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

Read Herb Gray’s Ring of Honour story here.

Notable:

Andy Bieber was a two-time Grey Cup champion (1939 and 1941) when he left the club after the ’41 season to enlist with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He became a Major and later participated in the ‘Tea Bowl’ games between Canadian and American soldiers while overseas serving.

FYI: 

Steve Patrick began his Bomber career wearing #53, but we will honour him at #63, the number he wore for the majority of his career… Pete Catan’s days in Winnipeg were short – he spent three years as a Bomber before bolting for the USFL’s Houston Gamblers – but memorable. Aside from being the team’s top rookie in 1981 and a CFL All-Star in 1982, Catan liked to build remote-controlled cars and helicopters as a hobby and is remembered for once firing rockets off his helmet at a Bomber practice.