PETER MARTIN (1965-72)

Peter Martin is to the Argos and their fans what Tom Cheek is to the Blue Jays and Joe Bowen is to the Leafs. That is, he is their voice, symbolic of the team and as much a part of the Argonaut community and tradition as any player or coach.

However, what Martin has over Cheek, Bowen and many of his broadcasting counterparts is that he once played the game too, suiting up for a total of 104 games in Double Blue from 1965-72.

"I was just a kid from Scarborough making the team in 1965," said Martin, who played at Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and then at the University of Western Ontario. "Initially, it was a thrill just being on the field with guys I idolized as a kid."

Martin thought he would never make the squad, but quickly got over the initial daze and went on to have a solid eight-year career as a linebacker, alternating between the right corner and middle linebacking positions.

"We played the old traditional 4-3 defence," said Martin. "I wasn't very big, 215 or 220 pounds. It was really hard making the adjustment to the middle with all the different keys and looks."

Martin was a member of maybe the most famous Argo team of all time, the 1971 squad that was laced with all-stars, yet lost the Grey Cup to Calgary 14-11 in a rainstorm.

"I think we were better than Calgary; we played them in a league game in Toronto that year and beat them handily," claimed Martin. "The real downer was the following year in 1972. In the first game, Joe Theismann broke his ankle, and I separated my shoulder later on and missed eight games."

The 1972 team ended up missing the playoffs, and as Martin said, "we went from the penthouse to the outhouse" in one year. The following year, Martin decided to call it quits before the season started.

"I had always enjoyed training camp and playing the game," said Martin. "But I got there in '73 and (the desire) wasn't there anymore. I never really missed it because it was my decision to walk away rather than being told to."

He rejoined the Argos in the broadcast booth in 1977, and ended up working a total of 17 seasons as the team's colour commentator on radio, working with the likes of Dave Hodge, Bill Stephenson, Bob Bratina, Marc Charlebois and John Badham.

"I miss the broadcasts," admitted Martin, who was not called back when the radio rights were acquired by AM 640. "(The Argos) might be on the verge of a comeback this year."

For now, Martin is still involved with the team as their in-house public address announcer for SkyDome home games, and away from the game is a program leader in adult education with the Peel Board of Education, which he has done since 1991. Before that, he was a teacher at Port Credit Secondary School from the year he started playing, 1965, until 1991.

"I always had two parallel careers," said Martin, who lives in Mississauga with his wife Wendy. The couple has four children (former Argo and Ti-Cat fullback P.J., Cindy, Kristi and Jennifer) and two grandchildren.


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