| Les Lear | |||||||||
| Birth Date: | 22 August 1918 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Grafton, North Dakota, U.S. | ||||||||
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Position1: | Offensive tackle | ||||||||
| Cis: | Manitoba | ||||||||
| Coaching Years1: | 1948–1950 | ||||||||
| Coaching Team1: | Calgary Stampeders (HC) | ||||||||
| Playing Years1: | 1938–1943 | ||||||||
| Playing Team1: | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | ||||||||
| Playing Years2: | 1944–1946 | ||||||||
| Playing Team2: | Cleveland/L.A. Rams | ||||||||
| Playing Years3: | 1947 | ||||||||
| Playing Team3: | Detroit Lions | ||||||||
| Playing Years4: | 1948–1950 | ||||||||
| Playing Team4: | Calgary Stampeders | ||||||||
| Career Highlights: |
CFL All-Star - 1941, 1943 | ||||||||
| Cfhof: | les-lear | ||||||||
| Cfhofyear: | 1974 | ||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||
Leslie Lear (August 22, 1918 – January 5, 1979) was a National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) player and coach as well as an owner and trainer of Thoroughbred race horses.
He grew up in Manitoba, Canada, where he played guard at the University of Manitoba. Lear started his professional football career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and helped the team to two Grey Cup victories. In 1944, he signed with the Cleveland Rams of the NFL becoming the first Canadian-trained player to play in the NFL. He would play a total of 4 seasons in the NFL. After his stint in the NFL, Lear returned to Canada where he coached the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders to an undefeated season in 1948- the only CFL team to go undefeated in a season.[1]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| CGY | 1948 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1st in Western Interprovincial Football Union | 3 | 0 | Won Grey Cup | |
| CGY | 1949 | 13 | 1 | 0 | .929 | 1st in Western Interprovincial Football Union | 2 | 1 | Lost in Grey Cup | |
| CGY | 1950 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 4th in Western Interprovincial Football Union | ||||
| Total | 29 | 11 | 0 | .725 | 5 | 1 | 1 Grey Cup | |||
Following his retirement from football, Les Lear became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing both as a horse trainer and an owner.
Lear was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of kidney failure on January 5, 1979.[2]
Lear was posthumously inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.[3]