Jack Wedley (September 15, 1917 – September 29, 2003) was an all-star and Grey Cup champion Canadian football player, playing from 1937 to 1951. Born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Wedley came to Canada in his youth and played playground football with the city champion Moss Park team. After high school, he graduated to the ORFU's

Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. Spanning three decades, they appeared in four Grey Cup ...

. Starting in 1936 he went on to a record setting career. His first stint with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

lasted 5 seasons and netted him a Grey Cup championship. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he played for several Navy teams; Toronto Navy Bulldogs and Halifax Navy, and in 1944 another Grey Cup with St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy. He returned to the Double Blue in 1945 for six more seasons and four more Cups, having played 90 games, 14 playoff games, and six Cup matches for the Boatmen. He finish his career in 1951 with the

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 ...

where he just missed yet another championship with their close Cup defeat. In all, Wedley collected seven Grey Cup championships, the most by any player until his record was later tied by Bill Stevenson and

Hank Ilesic Henry "Hank" Ilesic (born September 7, 1959, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a former all-star punter in the Canadian Football League. He also handled place kicking and kickoffs. He was twice an all-star punter and played in the CFL for 19 seasons. He pl ...

. He was also an all-star in 1941 and 1945 with the Argos. Wedley would go on to coach junior football, starting with the ORFU Oshawa Raiders intermediate team in 1953.Wedley to Coach Oshawa Raiders,

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

, March 25, 1953 He died September 29, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedley, Jack 1917 births 2003 deaths English players of Canadian football Ontario Rugby Football Union players St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers players Northern Secondary School alumni