Gerry James

Gerry James joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers out of High School in 1952 at the age of 18.  James played his entire career from 1952 until 1964 with the Bombers except for his final season with Saskatchewan.  in the first two seasons (1952 & 1953), James was used mainly on special teams and including returning punts.  In 1954, James got a chance to contribute more on offense and ran for 576 yards on 106 carries which won him the Outstanding Canadian award in the first year it was pesented.  The Bombers tended to use three running backs as a team instead of focussing on just one player, but James broke through for his first 1000+ yard rushing season in 1955 as he ran for 1205 yards with a 6.4 yard average gain per carry.  James was also named a West divisoin All-Star in 1955.  James missed the entire 1956 season, but returned in 1957 with his best season as he ran for 1192 yards and scored 19 touchdowns (18 of them rushing).  Those statistics earned James his second Western All-Star nomination and his second Outstanding Canadian Player award.  James didn't match those numbers again, at least partly becaues he was playing second fiddle to the great Leo Lewis.  James was also used as a placekicker in the latter half of his CFL career.  After not playing in any games in 1963, James joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1964 where he filled in as the Rider kicker. James was one of the few athletes to play professionally in two sports.  Besides playing for the Bombers, James also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1955 to 1960, and became the first player to appear in the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup in the same year.  Gerry James was elected to the Canadian Football Hall-of-Fame in 1981.

Prairie Gold Saskatchewan on Gerry James

Wikipedia Article on Gerry James

Games Played and Rushing
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
189 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

Games Played stats were not kept until 1964

Receiving
Year Team Rec Yds Avg TD Long
1952 WPG 5 63 12.6 2
1953 WPG 1 -2 -2 0 -2
1954 WPG 11 138 12.5 1 23
1955 WPG 11 136 12.3 0 27
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG 12 190 15.8 1 32
1958 WPG 1 17 17 0 0
1959 WPG 2 21 10.5 0 15
1960 WPG 2 22 11 1 15
1961 WPG 5 60 12 0 21
1962 WPG 7 68 9.8 0 17
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 1 16 16 0 16
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1952 WPG 4 94 23.5 0
1953 WPG 4 79 19.5 0
1954 WPG 17 483 28.4 0 55
1955 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG 12 279 23.2 0 40
1958 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1959 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1960 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1961 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1962 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
Punt Retunrs
Year Team PR Yds Avg TD Long
1952 WPG 52 517 10 0
1953 WPG 38 357 9.4 0
1954 WPG 4 18 4.5 0 7
1955 WPG 10 58 5.8 0 14
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1958 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1959 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1960 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1961 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1962 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1952 WPG

1953 WPG

1954 WPG 0 0
1955 WPG 10
1956 WPG 0 0
1957 WPG 2
1958 WPG 0
1959 WPG 0
1960 WPG 3
1961 WPG 3
1962 WPG 3
1963 WPG 0 0
1964 SASK 0 0
Passing
Year Team PA PC % Yds TD Int
1952 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1953 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1954 WPG 1 0 0 0 0 0
1955 WPG 1 0 0 0 0 1
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1958 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1959 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1960 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961 WPG 1 0 0 0 0 0
1962 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kickoffs
Year Team KO Yds Avg Long S
1952 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1953 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1954 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1955 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1958 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1959 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1960 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1961 WPG 6 308 51.3 56 0
1962 WPG 13 785 60.3 80 0
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 18 926 51.4 80 0

 

 1961 OPC
Place Kicking
Year Team GP ConvA ConvG % Att Good FG% Long S MFG YdsMFG Avg PTS
1952 WPG
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20
1953 WPG
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
1954 WPG
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25
1955 WPG
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35
1956 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1957 WPG
4 3 75 5 4 80

0 0 0 131
1958 WPG
13 9 69 6 4 67 0 0 0 0 0 33
1959 WPG
5 4 80 1 1 100 0 0 0 0 0 43
1960 WPG
40 32 80 10 6 60 0 0 0 0 0 114
1961 WPG
37 27 73 16 8 50 0 0 0 0 0 79
1962 WPG
47 41 87 27 12 44 0 0 0 0 0 116
1963 WPG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 10 33 27 82 11 5 45 0 0 6 256 42.6 44