When Granville Liggins played for current Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1960's, his quickness on the defensive line made him a candidate for the pro ranks. But aside from his quickness, Liggins needed something else to get noticed, to separate himself from the hundreds of other potential recruits: a nickname.
"I met with the P.R. guys at Oklahoma and they started calling me the 'Chocolate Cheetah'," said Liggins. "But I didn't like it too much, so they finally came up with Granny."
And the moniker stuck, and still sticks, according to Liggins, who often encounters Argo fans who recognize him from his playing days while working as a sales consultant for Cadet Uniform Services in Etobicoke, a position he has held for the past seven years.
"When I meet them, they say 'Hey, aren't you Granny Liggins," said the former All-Canadian all-star and team MVP in 1976, who began his CFL career with Calgary in 1968. "When I first came to Canada, I thought I'd get rid of (the nickname), but the first thing I saw in the paper was a headline saying, 'Stamps sign Granny'".
Liggins played with the Stampeders for five years, including being a member of the Grey Cup-winning 1971 team that defeated the Argonauts 14-11. Ironically, he was traded in 1973 for the player whose fumble cost the Argos a chance to win that game: Leon McQuay. While with the Double Blue, Liggins did not enjoy much team success, but remembers his time very fondly.
"The thing I remember about Toronto, at Exhibition Stadium, was that the fans were unbelievable," said Liggins. "The enthusiasm they showed, the people knew all of our names. A lot of them came just to see how we were going to lose the next game." The warmth he felt from the fans extended into the community, particularly evident during the birth of his daughter Shauna. When Liggins' first wife Angela went into labour, a police officer noticed their plight and escorted them along the Don Valley Parkway into the downtown core, where each intersection along the way to Toronto General Hospital was subsequently blocked off by other police cruisers to allow free passage.
"I love this country and I'll never leave it," said Liggins, who currently resides in Mississauga with his second wife Angela and their two dogs, Brady and Junior.
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