Pete Karpuk (c. 1927 – March 4, 1985) was a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

player who played 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 ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, 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 Canadian F ...

. In the last game of the 1951

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 ...

regular season,

Ulysses Curtis Ulysses "Crazy Legs" Curtis (May 10, 1926 – October 6, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Toronto Argonauts from 1950 to 1954. He won two Grey Cups with T ...

of 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 ...

had intercepted the ball and had a clear run for a touchdown when Karpuk rushed off the Ottawa Rough Riders bench to tackle him at the Ottawa 24-yard line. After a 15-minute delay, the referee ruled that Toronto could not be awarded a touchdown or a new play at the 1-yard line, but would have to take their next play from the 12-yard line with a man advantage—a rule that Karpuk knew because he had discussed it in the past. The tactic was afterwards called "a Karpuk" by at least one commentator when it was used again in American football. He won the

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 ...

with the Rough Riders that year. Ten years later he was broke and was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to stealing $110 from a store; but the conviction was quashed on appeal. He died of a heart attack in 1985.Ex-Alouette Karpuk dies of heart attack: INAL EditionThe Gazette ontreal, Que07 Mar 1985: D2.

References

1920s births 1985 deaths Canadian football people from Toronto Players of Canadian football from Ontario Ottawa Rough Riders players Montreal Alouettes players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players {{Canadianfootball-bio-stub