Chuck Anderson (Canadian football) explained

Chuck Anderson
Nickname:"Buit", "Chuck"
Birth Date:29 September 1917
Birth Place:Ramer, Alabama, United States
Death Place:Louisville, Ohio, United States
Position:Guard, centre, end
College:Ohio State
Cflallstar:1948
Honors:1948, 1949 - Grey Cup Champion
Playing Years1:1948
Playing Team1:Calgary Stampeders
Playing Years2:1949–1950, 1952
Playing Team2:Montreal Alouettes
Playing Years3:1953
Playing Team3:Ottawa Rough Riders

Charles Clay Anderson (September 29, 1917 – February 13, 1975) was an all-star and Grey Cup-champion professional Canadian football player.

Biography

Anderson graduated from Ohio State and turned pro in 1945 and 1946 with the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Football League (PCFL) (along with Ezzert Anderson, who would also later play pro in Canada.)[1] After playing with the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the PCFL (in 1947) he took his multi-talented skills (he could play any position on the offensive line) to Canada, where he won a Grey Cup in 1948 with the undefeated Calgary Stampeders. In a twist of fate, he joined the Montreal Alouettes the next season and defeated his former (championship) team to win another Grey Cup.[2] He played with the Larks for three seasons (missing 1951 after a tryout with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and finished his career with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1953.[3]

Following the path blazed by Herb Trawick, the first professional African-American player in the Canadian leagues, Anderson was among the first to break the colour barrier. He died after an illness of two and a half years in a hospital in Louisville, Ohio, on February 13, 1975.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Not Only the Ball Was Brown: Black Players in Minor League Football, 1933–46 by Bob Gill and Tod Maher, The Coffin Corner: Vol. 11, No. 5 (1989)
  2. Anderson did not get to play in the Grey Cup game. Though he played a full season and was "outstanding" in the playoffs, Canadian Rugby Union rules restricted the Alouettes to 5 import players, not the usual 7 under the Big Four rules. Both he and Lloyd Reese were forced to watch the game from the sidelines. See: Import Rule puts Bronco Reese, Chuck Anderson out of Football Playoffs by Vern DeGeer, The Montreal Gazette, November 15, 1949
  3. http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/a/anderson_chuck.htm
  4. News: Ex-Tiger grid star 'Buit' Anderson dies . The Evening Independent. February 13, 1975. 3. Newspapers.com. December 19, 2014 .