Bruno Bitkowski (November 11, 1929 – February 10, 1966) was an all-star Canadian football centre for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

for eleven seasons. Bitkowski was a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

champion twice (1951 and 1960) and won the Gruen Trophy as best rookie in the

Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...

in 1951. The Rough Riders retired his number (#40). The Bruno Bitkowski Memorial Trophy was given to the outstanding lineman in the Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS) Football league and was awarded to the most gentlemanly male athlete, from its inception in 1966 until the award was retired in 1986. Bruno Bitkowski was appointed as a Naval Cadet (UNTD) in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve serving with HMCS ''Hunter'' for the UNTD (University Naval Training Division) from 1950–51.

Notes

Bio
Canadian football offensive linemen Ottawa Rough Riders players Canadian football people from Windsor, Ontario Players of Canadian football from Ontario Windsor Lancers football players 1929 births 1966 deaths Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners {{Canadianfootball-offensive-lineman-stub