Chris Walby (born October 23, 1956) is a retired

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

player who played the offensive tackle position almost exclusively with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

. He won three Grey Cups with the Bombers in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. Walby was also a sportscaster with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

's ''

CFL on CBC ''CFL on CBC'' was a presentation of Canadian Football League football aired on CBC Television. CBC held broadcast rights for the CFL from 1952 to 2007. The exclusive broadcasting rights for the league moved to TSN starting from the 2008 CFL se ...

'' telecasts following his retirement.

Early life and college career

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, Walby grew up in the city's North End on Polson Avenue. He attended school at St. John's High School where he started playing junior football for the first time in grade 12. Growing up in Winnipeg, the primary sport was

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and Walby played for the West Kildonan/Kildonan North Stars. He played in the 1975–76 and 76-77 seasons, scoring four goals and nine assists but racking up 275 penalty minutes. Playing hockey in an era of fighting, he got into a pre-game altercation with teammate Kenny Sutherland. They were both arrested. Walby was charged with assault causing bodily harm and given a two-year conditional sentence. After his junior hockey career, he started playing football with the Winnipeg Rods, and earned an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

to play college football at

Dickinson State University Dickinson State University (DSU) is a public university in Dickinson, North Dakota. It is part of the North Dakota University System. It was founded in 1918 as Dickinson State Normal School and granted full university status in 1987. History Di ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

Professional football career

Following his collegiate career, Walby was drafted in the first round of the 1981 CFL Draft by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

. Walby played five games on the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

for them during the

1981 CFL season The 1981 CFL season is considered to be the 28th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 24th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1981 The Eastern and Western Football Conferences, which had carried on as ...

. Wrangling by management over his salary left Walby without a contract and short pay after he was waived by Montreal general manager Bob Geary; this left him with a bad taste in his mouth, but also with a contract offer from his hometown

. Bombers' assistant general manager Paul Robson greeted Walby at the airport, and within 30 minutes of his arrival had signed him to the Blue and Gold. Assistant coach Ellis Rainsberger moved Walby from defensive end to right guard in 1982 and 1983. The following season he moved to right tackle, where his success took him to a Hall of Fame career on the offensive line. Robson would say of his playing style that "He was an offensive lineman with a defensive lineman's personality, and that was the best of both worlds." For the remaining 16 years of his professional football career (1981–1996), Walby was a fixture on the

Bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircra ...

' offensive line and a favourite of the fans. He was named a CFL All-Star nine times, received the

CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award is annually awarded to the best offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Leo Dandurand Trophy winner from the East Division, and the DeMarco-Becket Memor ...

twice, and won the Grey Cup on three occasions. He is often referred to as one of the greatest offensive linemen in the history of the CFL.

Post football career

After his football career, Walby ran for a seat in the

Manitoba Legislature The Legislature of Manitoba is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada in Right of Manitoba, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, and the unicameral ...

for the

Liberal Party of Manitoba The Manitoba Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Manitoba) is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. Origins and early development (to 1883) Origina ...

but lost. He also was involved in various business ventures such as a restaurant called ''Hog City Bar and Grill''. Walby was a sportscaster on the CBC's ''

'' television broadcasts.

Awards and honours

In 2003, Walby was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and in 2005, was chosen as one of the Blue Bombers All-Time 20 Greatest players. In November 2006, Walby was chosen 22nd amongst the CFL's 50 Greatest Players in a TSN poll. Inducted into the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

in 2006.

References

External links

Chris Walby’s biography
a
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walby, Chris 1956 births Living people Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League announcers Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian television sportscasters Dickinson State Blue Hawks football players Kildonan North Stars players Montreal Alouettes players Players of Canadian football from Manitoba Sportspeople from Winnipeg Winnipeg Blue Bombers players