PLAYER #60 - TED TOOGOOD (1950-54)

The year was 1954, and all of the Argo fullbacks got injured before the team's opening game. Enter Ted Toogood.

"At 159 pounds, you don't think of yourself as being a fullback," said Toogood with a laugh, although the thought of having to open holes and block linemen twice his size is not very amusing. But Toogood did quite well, as he recalled, but a broken hand slowed him down and he was replaced by someone named Dick Shatto, who went on to do some pretty good things himself for the next decade in the Argo backfield.

Toogood had played as a halfback on offence in his first year as an Argo in 1950, a year in which they won the Grey Cup, and then "I passed a comment that I'd like to play defence", which he did for the next three years at cornerback, a period that also included a second Grey Cup title in 1952. However, he was best remembered for his kick-returning abilities, including running back two punts for touchdowns in the same game, which was particularly unheard of in Toogood's era of no blocking on kicks.

"The whole five years (that I played with the Argos) were pretty good," said Toogood, a co-captain on the second Grey Cup team. "A lot of the guys were ex-servicemen, and that gave us a strong, mature team."

After graduating from Toronto's Runnymede Collegiate, Toogood was stationed with the Air Force in Halifax during the war years, and came back to Toronto in the late '40's to attend U of T, whom he helped to a Yates Cup victory in 1948 along with future Argo teammate Nick Volpe. Just like Volpe, Toogood studied physical education and had a lengthy career in the education system outside of football.

From 1949-1960, Toogood was the athletic director at the new Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in downtown Toronto, and from there he moved out to Etobicoke, where he still lives today with his wife Joan. In 1960, Toogood joined the staff at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate, where he taught phys. ed. and geography until 1965, at which time he moved over to Etobicoke Collegiate, where he served as their athletic director until his retirement in 1985.

After retirement, Toogood moved into public service as a councillor in Muskoka, which is where he maintained a second home. He served the residents of cottage country from 1985-91, and his family became good friends with federal justice minister Allan Rock.

Currently, when he's not busy looking after the adventures of his six children and six grandchildren, Toogood, whose real name is Alex but who is better known as Teddy, is busy with his artwork, as he is an accomplished oil painter and sits on the executive of the Etobicoke Art Group.