“He did so much in his career and here in Winnipeg.” | Cal Murphy added to Ring of Honour

The Cal Murphy statue on the northeast corner of the Princess Auto Stadium footprint perfectly captures what was the game-day version of the man.

It features the long-time boss of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a ‘W’ hat, with his left hand pulling down on the microphone portion of his headset and the index finger on his right hand is raised just in front of his chest in a ‘come here for a moment’ coaching gesture to a player.

His face is stoic, the look stern. And for the longest time the Blue Bombers and their faithful took comfort in that expression because he was such a brilliant tactician who had his teams primed for whatever happened after the ball was put on the tee for the opening kickoff each week.

Yet, it could also be said there were so many other layers to the man it was an impossibility to portray them all in a bronze likeness.

(Photo courtesy: CBC)

He was ‘Kindly Cal’ to many across the Canadian Football League, long before he even became the head coach of his hometown club in 1983. He was then ‘Crusty Cal’ to some of his charges who didn’t take too kindly to his boot-camp like practices.

He was a father, a husband and a fierce and proud Canadian who later survived a heart transplant before returning to the sideline.

And now, in addition to being in the Winnipeg Football Club and Canadian Football Halls of Fame and having said statue on site, Murphy — who passed away in 2012 at the age of 79 — will also be added to the prestigious Ring of Honour with the other icons in franchise history at halftime when the Blue Bombers host the B.C. Lions on Thursday, July 30th.

“Cal was such an important part of the Blue Bombers for his many years with the club as a coach, a GM and a steadfast voice for Canadian football,” said Blue Bombers President & CEO Wade Miller. “Strong-willed and passionate in his beliefs, he had his hand on the rudder during one of the most successful eras of Blue Bombers football.

“On behalf of the Winnipeg Football Club, I’m thrilled to see his name join the other icons in franchise history in the Ring of Honour.”

Said the Murphy family in a statement:

‘Supportive & stern. Tough, fair.

He was a leader – solid, good husband and father, strong in his Catholic faith.

He loved the Bombers, the city & the league.

The family is proud of things he did with the Bombers and loved the man he was.

• Bringing Grey Cup to the prairies – still the best Grey Cup!
• Concerts before football games. Family affairs. Fun!
• Women’s classes on football
• After heart transplant, recovering in London, ON, he fought against CFL expansion into U.S. There was amazing support of community after transplant.

It was a great run in the ‘Peg. We’re excited to know how complimentary people are about him. Honoured that they still remember him as their own Canadian and Winnipeg-born head coach and GM.’

Added Joyce Murphy, Cal’s wife: ‘These honours from the Blue Bombers are getting embarrassing. But we love that you still love him.”

Murphy retired from the game with nine Grey Cup rings — one as an assistant with the Montreal Alouettes in 1977, five during Edmonton’s dynasty from 1978-82 and then three with the Blue Bombers, in 1984 as the head coach and then 1988 and 1990 as the general manager. He was twice named the CFL’s Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

As well, he was also one of the driving forces in helping Winnipeg land its first opportunity to host a Grey Cup, in 1991.

Murphy left the club after the 1996 season with a won-lost coaching record of 86-51-1, then second-most in franchise history and now ranking third behind Mike O’Shea (118-78) and Bud Grant (102-56-2).

Inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004 and in 2001 the organization began presenting annually the ‘Cal Murphy Heart of a Legend Award’ to the Blue Bombers player who ‘best demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship and dedication to the CFL and community.’

Born in Winnipeg, Murphy moved to Vancouver during his youth and after playing at the University of British Columbia as a quarterback and defensive back — and following a stint with the B.C. Lions — Murphy began his coaching career, first at his alma mater Vancouver College, then to Eastern Washington, the University of Hawaii and then San Diego State. His time in the CFL began in 1974 with the Lions — he would become the head coach there midway through the 1975 season and then joined Montreal in ’77 when his run of success as an assistant began.

Interestingly, when the Blue Bombers were looking for a new head coach after the 1982 season when Ray Jauch left for the Washington Federals of the USFL, then-GM Paul Robson initially had Minnesota Vikings assistant John Michels in his crosshairs. Michels had been one of Bud Grant’s assistants during the Blue Bombers Glory Years in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and Robson had been a rookie with the squad in 1964. After meeting with Michels in Minnesota, Robson flew to Edmonton to visit Murphy, after a recommendation from then-Eskimos head coach Hugh Campbell.

A few hours later the decision had been made.

“After dinner Cal and I sat and talked football, and we must have talked for two-three hours. I don’t remember what time I left his house, but it had to be midnight-one o’clock in the morning or later,” said Robson in a recent chat with bluebombers.com. “We talked about our philosophies of football. I spoke of my experiences playing for Bud Grant and then three years for Joe Zaleski and three years for Jim Spavital. He said he wanted to play a pressure defence and with a 3-4 formation.

“We were both philosophically on the same page on that and on so many other elements. I had felt that in that period prior — say ’80-’81-’82 — that we had gotten a bit soft as a team. I had it in my mind that we needed to get back to being a tougher and more disciplined squad.

“After meeting Cal I went back to the board, and they had already known my ‘A’ choice had been John Michels. When I reported to the board I said, ‘Gentlemen, ‘B’ has just become ‘A.’ Cal Murphy is the guy we’re going to hire. He has a rod of steel down his backbone.'”

The Blue Bombers went 9-7 and finished second in the West Division in Murphy’s first year, ending Edmonton’s dynasty in the Western Semi-Final before falling to the Lions in the Western Final.

A year later, they were Grey Cup champions and absolutely owned this town after ending a 22-year championship drought.

Murphy celebrates with Bombers’ Delbert Fowler after the Bombers won the 1984 West Final.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Didlick

“When did I know we had the right man? First day of training camp. First day,” said Robson with a chuckle. “We go to camp and it was a like a track meet, and they had pads on and they were hitting and running all the time. We needed to be tougher and in order to get there Cal was putting them through some tough times. What I didn’t know when I hired him was how good an in-game coach Cal was. He was brilliant.”

Murphy would become the GM in 1987 when Robson left for the Ottawa Rough Riders and promoted a young assistant at the time in Mike Riley, who would then guide the club to championships in 1988 and 1990.

Murphy took on the dual role of GM and head coach in 1992 when Riley had left for the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football. Yet, he wouldn’t coach a game that season after needing a heart transplant. Details of that dramatic season — the Blue Bombers would lose in the ’92 Grey Cup game with Urban Bowman acting as interim coach while Murphy recovered from surgery and still calling a lot of the shots from his hospital season — can be found here:

Cal Murphy | Heart of a Champion

Murphy was let go after the 1996 season and at the time was the eighth-winningest coach in CFL history. He stayed involved in the game, working with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and then the Frankfurt Galaxy before becoming a scout for the Indianapolis Colts.

‘Kindly Cal’… ‘Crusty Cal’…  hard ass… softie… leader… champion,.. stubborn… steadfast… hall of fame offensive tackle Chris Walby saw all those sides of the man, as their time in Winnipeg ran along the same timeline.

“I love it. I love that he’s going up on the Ring of Honour. Great pick,” said Walby. “He did so much in his career and especially here in Winnipeg. I mean, what did he have, nine Grey Cup rings?

“Listen, I loved Cal, but he could be tough. I remember going into his office when it came time to negotiate a contract. He’d put his feet up on his desk, his wife Joyce would come in and put a bowl of peanuts on the desk, and he’d look at me and then slide a piece of paper across to me. I’d look at it and say, ‘Nope’ and then push it back. Then he’d say, ‘Hang on… I’ve got to take a call.’ I swear there was nobody on the other line, he was just playing frickin’ games. He just wanted me to sit there and sweat for a bit. I got up and walked out. But we always worked out something.

“There’s also a similar story about Stan Mikawos. He just came out of the gym after a two-hour session of running and lifting. They had just given us these new lockers with safes — they all had the same key, funny enough — and so Stan sits down in Cal’s office and Cal says, ‘Hey, Mikawos… what do you think of your new locker?’

“Stan goes, ‘It’s great, coach!’ Cal then said, ‘Don’t get used to it.’ Stan goes right back in the gym and started to work out again. That was Cal.”

Walby bellows here — that familiar hearty laugh that comes from deep inside the big man and is loud enough to rattle windows. Then, after catching his breath, he perfectly summed up the complexity that was Cal Murphy in just a few words.

“Cal could have two sides to him like that,” he said. “If you thought you were in any way against him, he would go bananas. But if you were on his side, he was loyal.

“But here’s what I’ll say about him, as this is as high a compliment a coach and GM can get — in all the years he was there, we only had one sub. 500 season and we never ever missed the playoffs.

“We won. We won a lot.”