PLAYER #92 - FRED DUNBAR (1976-1989)

If you ever want the inside goods on what's happening with a football team, do one thing: ask the trainer.

As someone who's in contact with all the players, coaches and general manager on a regular basis, the trainer is in many ways the anchor of a football team, making sure everyone is healthy and ready to go come game time. For 14 years, Fred Dunbar was as much a part of the Argo scene as anyone, a constant amid the turmoil that often marked the franchise. During his tenure, the Argos went through three owners, seven head coaches and numerous players. They also went through, on average, 300 cases of tape a year: each case contained 32 15-yard rolls.

"I could go across Canada easily," said Dunbar, on the amount of tape he's used over the years. Speaking of tape, Dunbar wishes he could have kept all the funny stories of his Argo days on audiotape, since he thinks they would make a great book. For example, during training camp at Guelph, Dunbar and his assistants would stage a mock boxing ring whenever a fight broke out between two players competing for a job.

Of course, football is a tough game, and Dunbar had seen his share of gruesome sights. Among the worst was Campbell Hackney suffering torn knee ligaments and a severed artery in his leg, Wayne Allison being briefly paralyzed after a hit in Hamilton, and Steve Ackroyd going into convulsions on the field. On top of them were the endless amount of broken bones and bruises.

"I had to take in reports to the coaches and general managers every day," said Dunbar, who always had final say on a player's condition and playing status. "There was not one person who said: 'This guy has got to play!'"

The players were also no problem to deal with, for the most part. While some like James Curry may have complained too much, Dunbar said the exceptional and classy athletes, like Condredge Holloway, Cedric Minter, Carl Brazley and Terry Greer, were the norm rather than the exception.

As for the toughest, that honour would fall to Jim Corrigall. "Anytime you'd talk to Corrigall after he went down, he'd curse at (everybody)," said Dunbar. "I'd sit next to him and then say: 'Okay, can we proceed now?'" According to Dunbar, after one injury in Montreal, Corrigall shook it off and returned to the sidelines by passing through the Alouettes huddle.

Having played junior football himself in Oakville, Dunbar got into the training aspect of the game in the 1960's by being involved in minor league sports and attending seminars in the U.S. He joined the University of Guelph staff from 1968-76, during which time he also ran a sports medecine symposium. During his Argo years, Dunbar was a lecturer at Sheridan College and formed the Ontario Athletic Therapists Association. In 1988, he combined with Dr. Robert Jackson to form the Centre for Sport and Recreation Medecine at College Park, and from there got involved with SMS, a company that sells knee braces and other injury-related equipment to companies in Canada. SMS will soon be renamed Dunbar Medical and become the next focus of his life, along with his wife of 21 years, Helen, and kids Leah and Keith.


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