Greg Vavra (born February 19, 1961) is a former

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 ( ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played five seasons in 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 ci ...

with 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-o ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

and Edmonton Eskimos.

Early life

Vavra attended

Bishop Grandin High School Our Lady of the Rockies High School is operated by the Calgary Catholic School District. It is a composite high school and one of the largest in Calgary, serving just over 1800 students in the communities of south Calgary, Alberta. It is located ...

in Calgary,

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 ...

University career

Vavra played CIAU football for the Calgary Dinosaurs as a

, placekicker, and punter from 1979 to 1983. On October 7, 1983, he set the CIAU record for most passing yards in a game with 627 yards in their game against the Saskatchewan Huskies. He set a single season record for passing yards that year with 2,823, which was surpassed in 2002 by

Tommy Denison Tommy Denison (born October 7, 1978) is the offensive coordinator for York University's football team, the York Lions of U Sports. As a former quarterback in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, he is a two-time All-Canadian and two-time winner of the ...

. For the season, he was named a First Team All-Canadian and was awarded the

Hec Crighton Trophy The Hec Crighton Trophy (sometimes referred to as the Hec Crighton Award) is awarded annually to the most outstanding Canadian football player in U Sports. The trophy is named after the late Hec Crighton - teacher, coach, referee, and author of t ...

. In his final year in 1983, the Calgary Dinosaurs won the 19th Vanier Cup, with Vavra throwing two touchdowns, as well as kicking five field goals and one convert in the game. For his career, he completed 611 passes out of 1200 attempts for 8,401 passing yards and 63 passing touchdowns. On November 4, 1983, Vavra became the first University of Calgary student-athlete to have his uniform number (17) retired by a varsity team of the school. He was inducted into the University of Calgary Athletic Hall of Fame on October 12, 1995. Vavra was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a university player in 2020.

Professional career

Vavra was drafted as a territorial exemption by the

in the 1983 CFL Draft but was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos for Mike Levenseller on June 22, 1983. He was released in July 1983 and returned to the Calgary Dinos to complete his university eligibility. He re-signed with the Stampeders in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

where he played in 11 games as a rookie and started nine while posting a 4–5 win–loss record as a starter. That year, he completed 161 passes from 324 attempts for 1,901 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, Vavra was used more as a back-up as he played in 10 games and started in just two, where he completed 32 passes on 73 attempts for 391 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions. With a 1–1 record as a starter that year, he was the last Canadian quarterback to start and win a game until Brandon Bridge accomplished the feat in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. As a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1986, Vavra signed again with the Edmonton Eskimos, but was released in June 1986. He later signed with the

, where he played for two years and dressed in 23 games, and completed 50 passes on 101 attempts for 829 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He started his last game at quarterback on October 11, 1987, but the Lions lost to the Stampeders. After the 1987 season, Vavra signed with the Eskimos in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

for a third time and suited up as a back up quarterback that year, playing in 11 games and completing 10 passes from 26 attempts for 105 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Vavra retired after the 1988 season in order to complete his law degree and work in the oil and gas industry.

Coaching career

Vavra joined the coaching staff of the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

in 2006 to serve as the team's offensive coordinator; a position he held for five years. He re-joined the team in 2015 as the

quarterbacks coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

and served in that capacity for two years.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsCalgary Dinos bioFanbase profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavra, Greg 1961 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian football quarterbacks Calgary Dinos football players Calgary Dinos football coaches Calgary Stampeders players Edmonton Elks players Players of Canadian football from Alberta Sportspeople from Red Deer, Alberta Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees