Robert L. Simpson (April 20, 1930 – November 28, 2007) was a professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

player for the Ottawa Rough Riders, and was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1976. He was an

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and ...

all-star at four different positions throughout his career and was a two-time Grey Cup champion, winning with Ottawa in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. He also represented

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in basketball at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. He was the Rough Riders nominee for the Schenley Most Outstanding Player in 1956, Schenley Most Outstanding Canadian Award three times, and was Most Outstanding Canadian runner-up in 1956. Over his career with the Rough Riders, Simpson caught 274 passes for 6,034 yards and 65

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. On defense, he recorded 18 interceptions for 192 return yards and three touchdowns while on punt returns, he had 53 returns for 376 yards (7.1 yard average) and one touchdown. He was the first Rough Riders player to record 1000 receiving yards in a season, doing so in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. He was named to the

Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du sport d'Ottawa) is a hall of fame dedicated to recognizing athletes and sportspeople associated with Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Ottawa City Hall and includes over 270 ...

in 1967 and the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame Museum in 1982. Simpson represented

Wellington Ward Wellington Ward was one of the original five wards of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada created in 1855 from West Ward in Bytown, Upper Canada. It existed until 1994 when it was amalgamated with Dalhousie Ward to become Somerset Ward. The origi ...

on Ottawa City Council from 1960 to 1963.

Olympic Basketball

He was part of the Canadian basketball team that competed in the

which was eliminated after the group stage in the 1952 tournament. He played five matches.profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Bob 1930 births 2007 deaths Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football wide receivers Canadian men's basketball players Deaths from cancer in Ontario Deaths from prostate cancer Olympic basketball players of Canada Ontario Rugby Football Union players Ottawa city councillors Ottawa Rough Riders players Politicians from Windsor, Ontario Players of Canadian football from Ontario Basketball players from Windsor, Ontario Canadian sportsperson-politicians Basketball players from Ottawa