Your favourite Blue Bomber running backs of all-time!

[GOLDMEMBER]

I never liked Fred Reid. The only RB who I got really excited about after Charlie left was Chad Simpson (and obviously now Harris).

Chad was good but he played about 30% of the time. Not to excitable there either.

[Doublezero]

There's a clip here at 3 mins 28 secs that shows why I like Fred Reid, who could really take off when he put it in gear. See also 5 mins 25 secs. He was never a power runner, he wasn't built that way. But he had heart. Epitomized our Bombers. The clip of Reid is followed by one of LL. This is a great vid BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F4JvWZhuQ0

[Norm W]

A few names on the board are a little before my time, surprised to see 11.2 % or 29 posters picked Leo Lewis... He retired in 1966, I was only 7 years old at the time.

My 1st pick went to Mini Mack... aka Mack Herron, later known as Mack Heroin.

[GOLDMEMBER]

A few names on the board are a little before my time, surprised to see 11.2 % or 29 posters picked Leo Lewis... He retired in 1966, I was only 7 years old at the time.

My 1st pick went to Mini Mack... aka Mack Herron, later known as Mack Heroin.

He liked Heroin?

[Norm W]

Among other drugs, destroyed his career and his life....

Mack Herron, the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber running back who went on to set a single-season National Football League record for all-purpose records but whose playing career and later life was disrupted by drug use, died Saturday while living in the same Chicago streets where he grew up and was still ?a neighborhood legend? for his athletic accomplishments.

Mack Herron as Winnipeg Blue Bomber on July 26, 1972. He was 67.

His death, believed to be connected to diabetes, was confirmed Sunday by his sister Barbara.

Nicknamed ?Mini Mac? for his diminutive stature but powerful running, the 5 foot five and a half inch, 180 pound Herron joined the Canadian Football League Bombers in 1971 after the NFL Atlanta Falcons drafted him 143rd overall out of Kansas State, where in his senior year he had been runner up in college scoring.

With the Bombers, Herron was a sensation on the field and a fan favourite. He led the league in all-purpose yards in both of his CFL seasons before he signed with the Patriots in 1973, and in 1974 the kick-return specialist set the then NFL 14-game record with 2,444 all-purpose yards.

But Herron only became available to New England because of what would become a long-running battle with drugs. In May 1973, Winnipeg police raided his East Kildonan apartment, tackling Herron before he could toss the evidence off his balcony. It was a miniscule amount of marijuana, but police said they also found traces of cocaine.

The Bombers released him.

Five months later, having signed with the Patriots, Herron pleaded guilty to two drug-possession charges and was given a choice four months in jail or pay a fine and costs totaling $1,000. It was a stiff sentence, even back then, but the judge considered Herron?s residual stature in the community. At the time, the little man was still a big man in Winnipeg, and before he left the courtroom that October day, he spoke directly to young Bomber fans.

?Unfortunately, I became involved with drugs,? Herron said, ?and it has caused great harm to my career. I lost the opportunity to play in Canada for the Winnipeg team and become part of a wonderful community. I have been given a second chance to play for the New England Patriots on condition that I have nothing further to do with drugs. I will not become involved again. If there are any football players amongst the young Manitobans, I urge them to profit from my mistake. Stay away from drugs of all kinds.?

But soon, after playing parts of the 1975 season with the New England and finally Atlanta, his addiction to drugs, including heroin, would drag him down and out of professional football permanently. By 1978, Herron was sentenced to five years in prison on cocaine trafficking charges. He would serve shorter prison terms in 2000 and 2003. In 2011, his last reported drug-related arrest, The Chicago Tribune wrote that Herron has been arrested about 20 times since his football career ended, mostly for drug offences.

The Mack Herron who once had so much promise, and made so many promises, had been receiving public assistance in recent years and fighting with the NFL over pension payments. He did landscaping around the neighborhood, the Tribune wrote, ?usually for free.?

And like so many old pro football players, he was in constant pain. In Herron?s case it came from his leg and ankles, his mother told the Tribune.

?Sometimes,? she said, ?he can hardly walk.?

The arrest four years ago came as a shock to his family.

Herron was a devout Muslim, they said, who didn?t drink or smoke. They pointed out that he mentored children against drug use. They thought his troubles were behind him.

VIA: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/Former-Bomber?360724701.html

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

[The Zipp]

At the request of Foxhound here was an old poll - it did have some good participation. 

[Balticfox]

Yay!



Not much support yet for Charlie Shepard or Blaise Bryant.

[Tiger]

This is a hard call. 

Roberts was definitely entertaining and over 8 years amassed some numbers. 

Leo Lewis was the offence much of th time he was here. 

That said Williard Reaves was a very dynamic player also, achieved 2/3 the touchdowns in 1/2 the time Roberts did; he was absolutely the go to guy and when defence lines up against him knowing that he would get the ball, he would still usually get the first down or touchdown. While Roberts was entertaining he was not that guy. 

Harris is similar in that often defence would know he was getting the ball and could not stop him.  Unlike Reaves and Roberts he is a very good receiver and also a very good blocker.

So while everyone recall the entertainment of Roberts, Reaves and Harris get the nod. 

Also how many Grey Cups does Roberts have? Harris really carried the Bombers on his back and was a leader (as was Reaves).

[ModAdmin]

Foxhound was interested in seeing this thread again.

[bomb squad]

How about Butch Pressley? Hoss Humard? James Sykes? And let's not forget Mike Sellers. Honourable mentions at least.

[Balticfox]

James Sykes?

I considered James Sykes but the meat of his career was with the Calgary Stampeders. He had only 12 carries for 62 yards with the Blue Bombers in 1983 and 97 carries for 446 yards with the Bombers in 1986.

But where should Brady Oliveira now be slotted in among the Blue Bomber greats? Certainly top ten if not the top five.

 

[bomb squad]

I considered James Sykes but the meat of his career was with the Calgary Stampeders. He had only 12 carries for 62 yards with the Blue Bombers in 1983 and 97 carries for 446 yards with the Bombers in 1986.

That's what I find intriguing about him. Yes, he is Red and White, but he still had a big impact in his limited role with the Bombers.

[Tecno]

What...?  None of the "throwaway" RBs before AH arrived (after the greats left, of course)?     

Didn't we have a guy named Cotton for a season?  Looked promising then poof, just disappeared.  A lot of that going on in the Mafia years before AH.