PLAYER #93 - JOHN WINTERMEYER (1981-87)

It was mid-season in 1981, and the Canadian Football League was shocked by an announcement. The initial radio report just didn't seem right: Ralph Sazio has just left the Hamilton Tiger- Cats to sign up as the President of the Toronto Argonauts.

Excuse me, did I hear that right? Yeah, sure, and what next, Gretzky's going to get traded!

Despite the cries of "Et tu, Sazio" from Steeltown, a city that just went through a similar denial when linebacker Mike O'Shea signed with the Argos, the move did indeed happen, and changed the fortunes of the Boatmen for the next decade.

However, before he signed anybody else, Sazio brought along public relations man and Canadian player scout John Wintermeyer, which turned out to be the first of many shrewd moves.

"I was the first employee hired," said Wintermeyer, who was sent on the road right away, and ended up lasting until 1987 as Sazio's right-hand man. "Ralph was an extremely bright, hard- working executive. He taught me an awful lot about common sense, on-the-job training, and that you have to work hard to be successful in life, no matter what you do."

During his Argo days, Wintermeyer was in charge of the marketing and public relations aspects of the team, as well as helping bring in talented Canadian players like Bob Bronk, Warren Hudson and Geoff Townsend, who were key recruits during the successful Argo teams that followed that horrible 1981 squad.

"Those were great years," said Wintermeyer, who earned a Grey Cup ring in 1983, and almost won another in his last game in 1987. "Ralph was just a master, he knew how to work the rules."

Some would say he worked them a little too well, and also held the pursestrings a little too tight. To say Sazio was a hard-nosed businessman would be an understatement, but Wintermeyer was the ideal candidate to work next to him, having had experience with that type of personality by working alongside Alan Eagleson in the late '70's, helping organize international hockey tournaments on behalf of the NHL, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

"Not a lot of guys can say they did a tenure with Eagleson and Sazio," said Wintermeyer, who was Eagleson's business manager. "I think anytime people are successful at anything, there are situations where they are going to be challenged. But they were both great people to me."

A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier and Ohio University, where he earned a master's degree in sports administration, Wintermeyer was a player himself coming out of school, but a serious knee injury made his career with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and CFL's B.C. Lions very brief. After his hockey and Argo days, Wintermeyer went into business with current Leafs assistant GM Bill Watters in an event-management company, Branada Sports.

In 1991, Wintermeyer bought out Watters' shares in the company, which organizes various sporting events, including the recent Streetball 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Exhibition Stadium. Wintermeyer currently lives in Toronto with his wife Dawna and children John, Delaney and Gretchen.


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