Tommy Burns (July 9, 1910 – April 4, 1942) 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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He was an all-star and

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 ...

champion in the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

and the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

, playing from 1931 to 1941. A hometown boy, coming from the Montreal C.N.R. Juniors, Burns won a

with the

Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers The Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers were a Canadian football team and a member of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. The team existed from 1872 to 1935. The Montreal AAA sponsored the Montre ...

in 1931, his rookie season. He left home for a four-year stay 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 ...

, where he won another Cup in 1933 and was selected an all-star in 1934. He then returned to Montreal and played with nearly every team the city had to offer. In the 1936 and 1937 seasons, he played for the

Montreal Indians Montreal Indians was a Canadian football team in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1936 and 1937 seasons. Canadian Football Hall of Famers *Abe Eliowitz Abe Eliowitz (November 10, 1910 – November 19, 1981) was ...

, but in 1938 he left the IRFU for the ORFU and the

Montreal Nationals The Montreal Nationals were a Canadian football team in Ontario Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1938 season. The teams was preceded by the CNR Nationals, who played one year, 1937, in the short lived Quebec Rugby Football Union reviv ...

and, in 1939, the

Montreal Westmounts Montreal Westmounts was a Canadian football team in Ontario Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1939 season. Canadian Football Hall of Famers *John Ferraro (Canadian football), John Ferraro ORFU season-by-season References

. He finished with two seasons playing for the

Montreal Bulldogs Montreal Bulldogs was a Canadian football team in Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not f ...

. He was an all-star in 1937, 1938 and 1939. Burns suffered a fatal accident on April 4, 1942. Working for J.P.Porter & Sons, of Montreal, in Nova Scotia at the time, the brake drum of a dredge he was working upon came apart, instantly killing him.Mishap Kills Tommy Burns

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

- April 6, 1942

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Tommy 1910 births 1942 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Players of Canadian football from Quebec Ontario Rugby Football Union players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian football people from Montreal Accidental deaths in Nova Scotia Industrial accident deaths