John Forzani (April 5, 1947 – October 30, 2014) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman, former

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 ...

(CFL) player, and CFL team owner. He was the Chairman and co-founder of

FGL Sports FGL Sports Ltd. is a Canadian sporting goods retailer based in Calgary, Alberta. It operates under these corporate banners: ''Sport Chek'', ''Atmosphere'' (renamed from ''Coast Mountain Sports''), ''Sport Mart'' (all stores closed as of March 20 ...

Early life

Born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, he received a degree in business administration from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

in 1971. In 1971, he joined the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

as an

offensive lineman 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 numbe ...

and was part of the winning team of the

59th Grey Cup The 59th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1971, before 34,404 fans at Vancouver's Empire Stadium. The Calgary Stampeders defeated the Toronto Argonauts on a slick, rain-covered field, 14–11. Box Score First Quarter Calgary - TD - Herm Ha ...

. He played football until 1976.

Career

In 1974, he opened a store called Forzani's Locker Room in Calgary. In 1994, he acquired Sports Experts Inc. for $20 million becoming Canada's largest sporting goods retailer. In 2001, the

Retail Council of Canada The Retail Council of Canada (french: Conseil canadien du commerce de détail), founded in 1963, is a not-for-profit trade association representing retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, ...

recognized Forzani's work in leading FGL Sports (then known as the Forzani Group) to outstanding business success. In recognition of this accomplishment he was presented with the Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award. In 2005, he became a part owner of the Calgary Stampeders. In June 2005, Concordia University conferred an honorary doctorate at the convocation ceremony for the John Molson School of Business, and he gave the address to the graduates.

Personal

John and two of his brothers,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, all played together with the Calgary Stampeders. Joe and Tom also attended Utah State University. Forzani died of a heart attack on October 30, 2014.

References

External links

CFLapedia bio
1947 births 2014 deaths Businesspeople from Calgary Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian people of Italian descent Players of Canadian football from Alberta Canadian football people from Calgary Utah State Aggies football players {{Canadianfootball-offensive-lineman-stub