Johnny Bright

Johnny Bright was a superb running back who played thirteen seasons in the CFL from 1952 to 1964.  Bright started his career with the Calgary Stampeders, but he is best remembered as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos of the 1950s.  Along with Jackie Parker, Normie Kwong and Rollie Miles he led the powerful Edmonton offense to three consecutive Grey Cup in 1954-56. Bright was an All-American at Drake University and was a first round draft pick of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles in 1952.  The Calgary Stampeders persuaded Bright to come North and in his rookie season with Calgary in 1952, Bright  showed just a hint of the things to come as he ran for 815 yards on 144 carries and was named a Western All-Star (there were no All-Canadian All-Stars until 1962).  Besides being an outstanding running back, Bright was also a very good linebacker and in 1953, he didn't see much time on offense as he had only 38 carries for 128 yards, but Bright did record 3 interceptions.  In  1954, Bright picked off another 3 passes, but was traded partway through the season to Edmtonon.  Perhaps Calgary thought they were trading just a good linebacker, because certainly they didn't seem to realize what a great running back they had given away.  Fitted into the Edmonton offense, Bright's production rose immediately to 643 yards in 1955 and 573 yards in 1956.  Perhaps not impressive numbers to some, but he average over 6 yards a carry and he WAS sharring the rushing duties with Kwong and Parker!  In 1957 Bright moved his game up another notch and began a string of 5 straight 1000+ yard rushing seasons (1957-1961).  Bright didn't just tiptoe past the 1000+ yard mark, he shattered it as he rant for 1679, 1722, 1340, 1260 and 1350 yards respectively in those seasons.  Needless to say, Bright was a Western All-Star in all 5 seasons and in 1959, he was named the Outstanding Player in the CFL. Injuries and time finally slowed down Bright as no opposition defense could seem to, as his numbers dropped in over the next three years until his retirement after the 1962 season.  For those 5 glorious seasons, however, there was no better running bback in the CFL than Johnny right.  Bright was elected to the Canadian Football Hall-of-Fame in 1970.  Johnny Bright passed away on December 14, 1983.

Wikipedia Article on Johnny Bright

Bright Stealing the Show - September 20, 1952

Bright Rambles for 91 Yards - August 21, 1961

 

GP, Passing, Rushing and Reciving
Year Team GP PA PC % Yds TD Int Sacked Yds TC Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg Long TD Long PTS
1952 CAL 13 56 29 51.8 494 2 5 0 0 144 815 5.7 2 7 74 10.5
0
20
1953 CAL 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 128 3.3 0 1 7 7 7 0 7 0
1954 CAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 30 3.8 0 5 89 17.8 30 0 30 0
1954 EDM 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 184 5 0 3 50 16.7 38 0 38 0
1955 EDM 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 107 643 6 2 2 39 19.5
0
10
1956 EDM 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 93 573 6.1 4 9 151 16.7 28 1 28 20
1957 EDM 16 1 1 100 17 0 0 0 0 259 1679 6.4 16 18 300 16.6 29 0 29 96
1958 EDM 16 6 2 33.3 60 0 1 0 0 296 1722 5.8 8 19 265 14 37 0 37 48
1959 EDM 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 231 1340 5.8 8 24 506 21 52 3 52 66
1960 EDM 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 251 1260 5 14 10 139 13.9 26 0 26 84
1961 EDM 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 236 1350 5.7 11 13 219 16.6 34 0 34 66
1962 EDM 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 142 650 4.5 2 7 70 10 21 0 21 12
1963 EDM 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 83 324 3.9 0 11 111 10.1 32 0 32 0
1964 EDM 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 203 4.6 0 4 17 4.3 6 0 6 0

 

 

Kickoff and Pun tReturns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long PR Yds Avg TD Long
1952 CAL 5 117 23.4 0
2 7 3.5 0
1953 CAL 2 23 11.5 0
5 60 12 0
1954 CAL 1 24 24 0 24 0 0 0 0 0
1954 EDM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1955 EDM 1 13 13 0 13 0 0 0 0 0
1956 EDM 1 15 15 0 15 0 0 0 0 0
1957 EDM 2 32 16 0
0 0 0 0 0
1958 EDM 7 83 11.3 0 23 0 0 0 0 0
1959 EDM 3 40 13.3 0 20 0 0 0 0 0
1960 EDM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961 EDM 3 26 8.4 0 15 0 0 0 0 0
1962 EDM 3 41 13.7 0 17 0 0 0 0 0
1963 EDM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 EDM 1 10 10 0 10 0 0 0 0 0

 

Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1952 CAL

1953 CAL

1954 C/E

1955 EDM

1956 EDM

1957 EDM 5
1958 EDM 11
1959 EDM 5
1960 EDM

1961 EDM 5
1962 EDM 1
1963 EDM 0
1964 EDM 1

 

Interceptions
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long
1952 CAL 0 0 0 0 0
1953 CAL 3 35 11.7 0
1954 C/E 3 43 14.3 0
1955 EDM 1 8 8 0 8
1956 EDM 0 5 0 0 5
1957 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1958 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1959 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1960 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1961 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1962 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1963 EDM 0 0 0 0 0
1964 EDM 0 0 0 0 0

Bright had one punt for 40 yards in 1952.

1962 Topps

1958 Tioos Johnny Bright

Johnny Bright

1962 Post Johnny Bright