Tommy Grant

Tommy Grant was a fleet footed Canadian out of the Windsor Junior football program who joined Hamilton in 1956.  Grant Played 14 seasons in the CFL, 13 of them with Hamilton, and finishing his career with Winnipeg in 1969.  Grant was mainly a receiver during his career, but Hamilton did line him up in the backfield sometimes as a running back.  In 1962, for example, Grant had 31 carries for 129 yards. Like most Canadian rookies, Grant paid his dues as a backup in his first couple of seasons, with 10 catches in 1956 and 16 in 1957 before becoming a regular in 1958 with 30 catches for 756 yards and an outstanding 25.2 yard average.  A high average gain per catch was a trademark of Grant throughout his career as he averaged over 20 yards a catch 8 times.  Grant's career high for catches was 44, reached in both 1961 and again in 1964.  By today's standards, those are not high totals, but it was a 14 game schedule back then and teams ran the ball much more frequently in that era.  Grant ranked near the top of the East in receiving for much of his career at a time when 50 catches a year could lead the division.  Grant won an East All-Star in 1963 and a Canadian All-Star in 1964.  The two All-Star selections reflect the change that was taking place in the CFL at that time.  Grant's 1963 selection was for halfback / running back, despite the fact he didn't carry the ball once in 1963!  The game was transitioning to a more pass orientated attack, and Gran'ts "Flanker" position was not recognized in the All-Star voting which at the time selected two Ends and four halfbacks.  In 1964, the Flanker position was recognized as an official All-Star position with the reduction to three running backs, and Grant was the first person to win All-Canadian honours at Flanker.  Also, in 1964, Grant was named the Outstanding Canadian in the CFL.  Tommy Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

Wikipedia Article on Tommy Grant

Games Played and Receiving
Team Year GP Rec Yds Avg Long TD
HAM 1956
10 236 23.6 51 1
HAM 1957
16 332 20.8 70 1
HAM 1958
30 756 25.2 72 7
HAM 1959
29 453 15.6 45 3
HAM 1960 14 44 758 17.2 78 8
HAM 1961 3 7 78 11.2 16 0
HAM 1962 14 28 292 10.4 42 2
HAM 1963 14 40 834 20.9 57 7
HAM 1964 14 44 1029 23.4 66 7
HAM 1965 14 23 558 24.8 91 5
HAM 1966 14 35 683 19.5 47 8
HAM 1967 14 10 249 24.9 49 0
HAM 1968 14 8 203 25.4 50 1
WPG 1969 13 5 81 16.2 28 0

The East first kept track of games played stats in 1960.

Rushing
Year Team TC Yds Avg TD Long
1956 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1957 HAM 3 2 0.7 0 3
1958 HAM 28 127 5.9 0 70
1959 HAM 15 70 4.6 0 16
1960 HAM 8 61 7.6 0 23
1961 HAM 1 4 4 0 4
1962 HAM 31 139 4.5 1 15
1963 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1964 HAM 2 18 9 0 9
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1969 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1956 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1957 HAM 0 0 0 0 70
1958 HAM 4 69 17.3 0 20
1959 HAM 1 0 0 0 0
1960 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1961 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 8 209 26.1 0 63
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1969 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
Punt Returns
Year Team PR Yds Avg TD Long
1956 HAM 0 5
0 5
1957 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1958 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1959 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1960 HAM 2 3 1.5 0 3
1961 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 31 139 4.5 0 23
1966 HAM 37 183 4.9 0 33
1967 HAM 40 225 5.6 0 15
1968 HAM 35 187 5.3 0 24
1969 WPG 3 3 1 0 3
Interceptions
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long
1956 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1957 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1958 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1959 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1960 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1961 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 2 46 23 0 46
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1969 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
Fumbles
Year Team F FL OFR
1956 HAM

0
1957 HAM

0
1958 HAM

0
1959 HAM

0
1960 HAM

0
1961 HAM

0
1962 HAM

0
1963 HAM

0
1964 HAM 0
0
1965 HAM 0
0
1966 HAM 0
0
1967 HAM 1 1 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0
1969 WPG 0 0 0
1962 Post