Ed Buchanan

Buchanan was generally the number two running back on the teams he played for, but not so much the second fiiddle as the fleet counterpunch to the bruising fullbacks of his day.  Buchanan started his CFL career with Calgary, and played two season there providing the complement to Earl Lunsford.  In 1961, Buchanen ran for 348 yards with a 7.7 yard average carry in his rookie season.  Seeing more touches in 1962, Buchanan had 824 yards rushing and a 6.0 yard average.  In 1963, Buchanan moved to Saskatchewan and there teamed up with George Reed for the next five years from 1963 to 1967.  Buchanan's best season came in 1964 when he rushed for 1320 yards (more even than Reed) and 36 passes for another 681 yards.  Those statistics earned Buchanan both Western and All-Canadian All-Star spots in 1964.  Injuries limited Buchanen to just 4 games in 1965 and 6 games in 1966, but he he will always be remembered fondly in Saskatchewan for being a member of that club's first Grey Cup win in 1966.  A healthy Buchanan played all 16 games in 1967, rushing for 695 yards and catching 33 passes for another 471 yards.  After not playing in 1968, Buchanan returned to action with Hamilton for two season in 1969 and 1970.  In total, Buchanan ran for 4857 yards in his career and was also a major threat catching the ball and returning kickoffs.  If you look at Buchanan's average gain per pass reception, his lowest average for any season was 13.2 which is truly outstanding for a running back and in three seasons, his average was over 20 yards per catch. Ed Buchanan passed away from Lou Gehrig's Disease on August 31, 1991.

Games Played and Rushing
Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long
1961 CAL
45 348 7.7 1 40
1962 CAL
136 824 6 7 86
1963 SASK
86 447 5.2 2 30
1964 SASK 16 170 1390 7.8 7 93
1965 SASK 4 24 86 3.6 0 15
1966 SASK 6 32 181 5.6 0 43
1967 SASK 16 120 695 5.8 2 85
1969 HAM 14 62 281 4.5 1 20
1970 HAM 14 112 605 5.4 4 78

Games played statistics were not kept in the West until 1964.

Receiving
Year Team Rec Yds Avg TD Long
1961 CAL 10 264 26.4 3 63
1962 CAL 30 450 15 3 75
1963 SASK 22 291 13.2 1 36
1964 SASK 36 681 18.9 2 48
1965 SASK 4 87 21.7 0 28
1966 SASK 14 296 21.1 3 80
1967 SASK 33 477 14.4 2 53
1969 HAM 31 555 17.9 5 83
1970 HAM 35 500 14.3 2 42
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1961 CAL 4 78 19.5 0 36
1962 CAL 4 111 27.7 0 37
1963 SASK 12 302 25.2 0 52
1964 SASK 13 352 27 0 55
1965 SASK 7 232 33.1 0 45
1966 SASK 6 138 23 0 33
1967 SASK 20 506 25.3 0 36
1969 HAM 16 480 30 0 62
1970 HAM 16 396 24.7 0 40
Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1961 CAL

1962 CAL 2
1963 SASK 3
1964 SASK 5
1965 SASK 0
1966 SASK 1
1967 SASK 0
1969 HAM 1 0
1970 HAM 5 4
Fumble Recoveries
Year Team FR Yds Avg TD Long OFR FF
1961 CAL 0 0 0 0 0 0
1962 CAL 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SASK 2

0
0
1965 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1966 SASK 1

0
0
1967 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1969 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1970 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 OPC