Edwin Fitzgerald (Gerry) James (born October 22, 1934) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a 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 scoring area ( ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

and professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

player. He played for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

of the

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 c ...

(CFL) and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). His is a member of 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 ...

, like his father, Eddie James, who also played for the Blue Bombers. James was born in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the 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 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

. In a period overlapping the

1959 CFL season Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of ...

and

1959–60 NHL season The 1959–60 NHL season was the 43rd season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to none for their fifth straight Stanley Cup. Regular season ...

, James became the only player to play in the CFL's

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 ...

(November 28, 1959—won cup) and the NHL's

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

(first game April 9, 1960—lost cup) in the same season.

Football career

A graduate of Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, James started his CFL career in 1952 when he became one of the youngest players ever to play in the CFL, at only 17 years old. ( Tom Manastersky was several months younger when he joined the Montreal Alouettes in 1946). As a kicker and a running back in the Bombers' powerful "run by committee" system, James helped the team to six

appearances (1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962), earning four victories (1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962). This committee system over the years included

Lorne Benson Lorne "Boom Boom" Benson (September 16, 1930 – April 3, 2012) was an award winning fullback who played in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1951 to 1955. Benson first played in 1951, but nonetheless won the D ...

, Tom Casey, Leo Lewis, Bob McNamara and

Charlie Shepard Charles "Charlie" LaFayette Shepard was an award-winning, all-star and Grey Cup champion running back in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1957 to 1962. A graduate of North Texas State University, Shepard played w ...

. In the 1957 season James scored 19 touchdowns, one short of the record set a year earlier by

Pat Abbruzzi Pasquale "Pat" Abbruzzi (August 29, 1932 – June 3, 1998) was an American college and professional Canadian football running back and a successful high school football coach. Abbruzzi played collegiately for the University of Rhode Island (Cl ...

. He did however set a CFL record with 18 rushing touchdowns, which stood alone until it was tied by

Jim Germany Jim Germany (born February 2, 1953), is a former star running back in the Canadian Football League. He played his college football at New Mexico State University, where he inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1994. Drafted by the NFL's St. Louis ...

in 1981 and was finally surpassed by Mike Pringle with 19 in the 2000 season. James rushed the ball 197 times for 1,192 yards that season. He was part of the Blue Bombers until 1963, then played in 1964 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 ...

. When he retired from the CFL, James was the second all-time leading Canadian running back with totals of 994 carries for 5,554 yards and 57 touchdowns, behind only

Normie Kwong Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a Canadian football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also an active businessma ...

. James was a two-time winner –

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

– of the CFL's

Most Outstanding Canadian The Most Outstanding Canadian Award is annually awarded to the best Canadians, Canadian player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Lew Hayman Trophy winner from the Canadian Football League East Division, East Di ...

award. James was inducted into the

in 1981, joining his father, Eddie James, who was inducted in 1963.

Hockey career

James was also a professional

right winger who played a total of 164 games in the

for the

over 5 seasons in the late 50s (1954-55 to 1959-60), playing in 149 regular season games and 15 playoff games, finishing with 41 career points (15 goals and 26 assists). At the age of sixteen, James played with the Winnipeg Monarchs junior hockey team in the

1951 Memorial Cup The 1951 Memorial Cup final was the 33rd junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Barrie Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against ...

(a loss). The Toronto Maple Leafs, who owned James' professional hockey rights, decided to move him to Toronto to play for the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

, their top junior team. James would win the 1955 Memorial Cup playing with the Marlboros – only a few months after winning the CFL's

award. A few days after the Memorial Cup win, James also played his first NHL game with the Maple Leafs – ending a tremendous series of multi-sport and multi-league achievements within a five-month period. In the

1955–56 NHL season The 1955–56 NHL season was the 39th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the best-of-seven final ser ...

, immediately after rushing for a career-high season of 1,205 yards and being chosen a Western All-Star for the 1955 Canadian football season, James rejoined the NHL's Maple Leafs for their last 51 games, including a 5-game run in the

Stanley Cup Playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...

. James played a career-high 53 games in the

1956–57 NHL season The 1956–57 NHL season was the 40th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one in the best-o ...

, also marking his biggest season for NHL goals (4), assists (12), points (16) and penalty minutes (90). The following 1957 football season saw James win his second

award on November 29, play in the CFL's 1957 Grey Cup Championship the afternoon of November 30 in Toronto, and that same night play his first game of the

1957–58 NHL season The 1957–58 NHL season was the 41st season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to two in the best-of-seven final series. League busi ...

with the Maple Leafs. James played only 15 games with the Maple Leafs in the 1957–58 NHL season, being sent to the team's

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...

farm team for a further 15 games of ice hockey. He was only able to join the Maple Leafs in a management role for the

1958–59 NHL season The 1958–59 NHL season was the 42nd season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one in the best-of-seven final se ...

, due to a leg injury suffered in the 1958 CFL season. In the

, immediately after winning the CFL's 1959 Grey Cup, James rejoined the NHL's Maple Leafs as a player for their last 44 games, including a 10-game run into the 1960 Stanley Cup Championship finals. With his on-field and on-ice play between November, 1959, and April, 1960, James became the only player in history to play in the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup finals in the same season. The Maple Leafs did not use James in the 1960-61 season, lending him to the Winnipeg Warriors in the minor pro Western Hockey League for his last year of professional hockey. James would play some

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisd ...

in Saskatchewan over the next few years, then became a Tier II/Junior A head coach in 1973 in the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...

(SJHL). Over a twelve-year period, James would coach eight SJHL seasons with the

Yorkton Terriers The Yorkton Terriers are a team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) based in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays their home games in the Farrell Agencies Arena, which has a seating capacity of 2,300. The Terriers won the 2 ...

, the

Melville Millionaires The Melville Millionaires are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey based in Melville, Saskatchewan. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). They play their home games in the Horizon Credit Union Centre which has a seating ...

and the

Estevan Bruins Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History Th ...

. He coached these teams to seven winning seasons and a lifetime record of: 249 wins, 191 losses, 14 ties for a 0.622 winning percentage. He just missed a perfect sweep of winning seasons when his 1979-80 Melville Millionaires finished a half-game below 0.500: 29–30–1. James later coached the 1988-89 season with the

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...

of the major junior

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

Retirement

When he retired from competitive football, James remained active in hockey. In 1963, he coached in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and managed hockey teams in Yorkton, Melville, and Moose Jaw of the

in the 1980s. James currently resides in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. Gerry has been a member of the Allwood Finishers, Dart Team in Parksville on Vancouver Island, since 2015. In 2017 the Allwood Finishers won the District 69 Dart League "A" Division Championship trophy for the second year in a row.

Awards and achievements

* 1955 Memorial Cup Championship winner *

CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award The Most Outstanding Canadian Award is annually awarded to the best Canadian player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Lew Hayman Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy winner f ...

and

* CFL Grey Cup Championship winner,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

, inducted 1982. * Selected as one of the Blue Bombers All-Time Greats.

CFL Statistics

Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long 1952 WPG 10 93 9.3 2 1953 WPG 25 120 4.8 1 1954 WPG 106 576 5.4 4 71 1955 WPG 89 1205 6.4 7 60 1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 1957 WPG 197 1192 6.1 18 74 1958 WPG 64 372 5.8 2 21 1959 WPG 49 261 5.3 6 44 1960 WPG 165 872 5.3 9 28 1961 WPG 102 505 5 4 26 1962 WPG 84 345 4.1 5 15 1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0 1964 SASK 10 4 13 3.3 0 7

References

The definitive authorized biography of Gerry James
''Kid Dynamite: The Gerry James Story''
was published in 2011 b
Oolichan Books

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Gerry 1934 births Living people Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Canadian Award winners HC Davos players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Moose Jaw Warriors coaches Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Rochester Americans players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Toronto Maple Leafs players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Canadian ice hockey coaches