PLAYER #89 - TOM WILKINSON (1967-70)

Tom Wilkinson won five Grey Cups and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987, so you figure he had to have done something right. But it certainly didn't result in a swelled head for the self-deprecating former quarterback, whose attitude and sense of teamwork were symbols of the championship Edmonton Eskimo squads he played with.

"It was definitely me representing a bunch of great football players," said Wilkinson, in describing his personal achievements, especially his Hall-of-Fame selection. "It is a really big honour. It's not something I set out to do."

What he set out to do was just make a team coming out of the University of Wyoming in the mid-60's.

"I was short, fat, slow and had little hands," was how Wilkinson described himself when he first came to Canada. After a brief stint with the Toronto Rifles of the old Continental Football League, Wilkinson joined the cross-town Argonauts in 1967, where he had to adjust to the rules, as well as the ball.

"That was a big, fat football back then; it was like they had mumps," said Wilkinson. "I would have to readjust it in my hands so that I could throw it."

Wilkinson also had a tough time finding playing time in those days, backing up the likes of Wally Gabler and Don Jonas. But players like Bobby Taylor and Bill Symons kept cheering him up, trying not to let it erode his confidence.

"I owe a lot to them," said Wilkinson. "Guys like Bobby Taylor were around instilling that winning attitude. We couldn't accept losing."

The Argo teams of the late '60's didn't lose often, except to Ottawa in the Eastern finals. It wasn't until Wilkinson made it to Edmonton that he finally got to the Grey Cup games, first winning it in 1975, and then taking four straight from 1978-81 before he retired. The last game in 1981, where the Esks trailed Ottawa 20-1 at halftime and came back to win 26-23, was a typical way for "Wilkie" to end his career.

"I think that's where that team thing really paid off, it would have been easy to panic," said Wilkinson. "There's no question that the team won the games, not the players. It became where you knew all the players were as important as everyone else."

While in Edmonton, Wilkinson and his wife Louise raised three children (Sherry, Jody and Tommy Jr.), and now have been blessed with four grandkids. Away from football, Wilkinson sold advertising in the off-season for radio station CHQT, which specialized in an easy listening format, or elevator music, to be exact. "And is that ever hard to sell if you're not on an elevator!" laughed Wilkinson, who benefitted from a format change to last 18 seasons at the station. He finally left in 1991 to join the University of Alberta as a football coach, where he is back for his fifth season.

"We have a bunch of what I think are very good athletes, but as I mentioned before, athletes don't win games, teams do," said Wilkinson, whose team opened the season against UBC last weekend.


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