PLAYER #65 - ED LEARN (1967-69)

Ed Learn used to dodge trucks on the football field, and then sell them off the field.

In a 12-year CFL career that included a three-year stint with the Argos from 1967-69, Learn was a defensive safety and punt returner, whose main claim to fame was trying to avoid the trucks masquerading as football players, who used to barrel down the field on special teams looking to steamroll little kick returners, who did not have the benefit of blocking at the time.

"I enjoyed it, I really liked returning punts," said Learn, an eastern all-star in 1968 and '69 with the Argos. "You learn tricks to survive in that position. If you know you're going to get hit, you just dive at them first."

Off the field, Learn learned the tricks of his other profession, selling cars and trucks, and he was quite good at that too. Throughout his CFL career, which began in Montreal in 1958 and ended in Toronto in 1969, Learn was a salesman at Jantzi Motors, which was the Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealership in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. His notoriety as a professional athlete helped his sales, that's for sure.

"It didn't do me any harm," said Learn. "Welland is not a large town, and people knew I played football." A star quarterback in high school, Learn spurned scholarship offers from the likes of Notre Dame in 1955 to try out for the Edmonton Eskimos, who play the Argos at the SkyDome tonight. Learn tried to make the Esks as a QB, but they already had a pretty good duo there consisting of legends Jackie Parker and Don Getty, so it didn't quite pan out. Therefore, he played for the Esks' farm team, the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU), with the likes of future Argos "Cookie" Gilchrist and Bobby Kuntz. He was coached by Harvey Johnson, who would later go on to be an assistant with Montreal and invited Learn to the Alouettes camp in 1958.

"Sometimes you just had to do something where they notice you," said Learn, who was noticed by intercepting a Sam Etcheverry pass and running back punts in an intra-squad game, and subsequently made the team, where he was nicknamed "Spider" because "I didn't have the biggest legs". Recently, Learn was one of a select group of Alouette alumni honoured at a ceremony marking the team's return to Montreal, which was held during their first regular-season game against the Argos on June 27th.

Learn is also a regular visitor to the SkyDome for Argo games, as he drives down the QEW from St. Catharines, where he lives with his wife Bernadee. Since retiring from the Argos, Learn has expanded his involvement in the auto business, first by co-owning a dealership with Dick Farr called Farr-Learn Mercury in Welland, and then by going solo with Ed Learn Ford in St. Catharines in 1978, which is still going strong today. Learn's son Bill handles the day-to-day operation, while his other son Paul runs Phoenix Lincoln Mercury in Guelph. Learn also co-owns Grandview Lincoln Mercury in Cambridge, although no next-of-kin is involved there. The other members of the family are daughter Janice, stepson Christopher and stepdaughter Kimberley.