George Robert Reed, CM, SOM (born October 2, 1939), is a former American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

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. Reed, along with Mike Pringle and

Johnny Bright John Dee Bright (June 11, 1930 – December 14, 1983) was an American professional football player in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Drake University. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the Nation ...

, is one of the players most often mentioned as being the greatest

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in CFL history. In November 2006, Reed was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#2) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. Reed played his entire 13-year professional football career for the

CFL 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 ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

and his #34

jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

is one of eight that has been

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

by the club. His daughter

Georgette Georgette is a feminine given name, the French form of (''Geōrgia''), the feminine form of George. Georgette may refer to: People * Georgette Barry (1919–2003), stage name Andrea King, American actress * Georgette Bauerdorf (1924–1944), Ame ...

represented Canada in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in the shot put competition.

College career

Reed played

Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

college football with the

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

Cougars from 1959 to 1962 where he was teamed with fellow Canadian Football Hall of Famer

Hugh Campbell Hugh Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is a former American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different professional gridiron football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Unit ...

CFL

Following college, Reed signed with the

where he starred for 13 years from

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

until

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 203 games in all. By the time he retired, Reed held career

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

in rushing yards (16,116), rushing

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 Ameri ...

s (134), and touchdowns (137). Reed's rushing yards total has since been surpassed by

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

stars

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

and

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

, and, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

star Mike Pringle. Pringle tied Reed's total of 137 career touchdowns, and George Reed still holds the CFL rushing for touchdowns record with 134. George Reed was voted the

CFL's Most Outstanding Player The Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from ...

for

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

and in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

he was the inaugural winner of the Tom Pate Memorial Trophy for playing ability and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

. He was the MVP of the

54th Grey Cup The 54th Grey Cup was hosted at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 26, 1966. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won their first Grey Cup after 53 years of competition for this trophy, after losing eight times. With Eagle Keys as ...

of 1966, as Saskatchewan defeated Ottawa, his sole Grey Cup win. On October 9, 1973, in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

, George Reed was honored with the unique proclamation of October 9 as George Reed Day. In 1972, while still an active player, Reed became the fourth president of the

Canadian Football League Players' Association The Canadian Football League Players' Association (or CFLPA) represents Canadian football players in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The association was established in 1965, when local lawyer John Agro became concerned by the number of Hamilton ...

(CFLPA). He maintained the CFLPA presidency until 1981, six years after his retirement from the CFL. Reed returned as the sixth president of the CFLPA from 1986 to 1993.

Career regular season rushing statistics

Post-football career

A naturalized Canadian citizen who is currently the Director of Guest and Community Relations at SaskGaming, Reed was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1978, Canada's highest civilian honour, and in 1979 was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

. He is the father of Georgette Reed who represented Canada in the women's shot put at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 2012 in honour of the 100th Grey Cup,

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

used his image on a series of commemorative postage stamps. The image was also used on presentation posters and other materials to promote the Grey Cup game and other celebrations associated with the centennial. In November 2019, a stretch of road along the north end of the Roughriders' current home,

Mosaic Stadium Mosaic Stadium is an open-air stadium at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Announced on July 12, 2012, the stadium replaced Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field as the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. It wa ...

, was renamed "George Reed Way" in his honour, with the stadium's official address changed to 1734 George Reed Way. In November 9, 2022, Globe Theatre located in Regina produced a live theatre show based on George Reed's CFL life(1963 to 1975) in Regina. The play is written by Munish Sharma.

References

External links

George Robert Reed
at ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, George 1939 births Living people African-American players of Canadian football American emigrants to Canada American football running backs American players of Canadian football Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Canadian football running backs Members of the Order of Canada Players of American football from Mississippi Sportspeople from Vicksburg, Mississippi Saskatchewan Roughriders players Washington State Cougars football players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople