Ken Carpenter

Coming to the CFL from Oregon State via the Cleveland Browns of the NFL (1950-53), Ken Carpenter was one of the top offensive players in the West in the last half of the 1950s. Carpenter played six years in the CFL (1954-1959), all with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  In his rookie season, Carpenter scored 9 touchdowns while performing as a dule threat, rushing and catching the ball out the Rider backfield.  Carpenter's offensive output throught his career was largely equally split between rushing and receiving.  In that rookie season in 1954, Carpenter ran for 545 yards and caught 37 passes for another 523.  Carpenter also led the West in kickoff return yards, running back 17 kicks for 630 yards and an excellent 39.0 yard average.  Better things were still to come from Carpenter in 1955 when he led the West in scoring with 90 points on 18 touchdowns (TDs were only 5 points back then).   Carpenter had 586 yards rushing and 39 catches for 676 yards.  1956 was Carpenter's best season offensively, scoring 14 touchdowns for 84 points, rushing for 727 yards and catching 43 passes for 784 yards.  The receving stats put Carpenter second in the West in that category, behind only Bud Grant of Winnipeg.  Injuries curtailed Carpenter's output a bit in 1957 to 284 yards rushing and 24 catches for 376 yards.  In 1958, the Riders signed the great Cookie Gilchirst at running back and Carpenter moved to play wide receiver where her 33 catches for 576 yards.  In his final season in 1959, Carpenter returned to the backfield and rushed for 270 yards and caught 19 passes for another 220 yards.  Besides playing offense, Carpenter went both ways like many players of that time.  Carpenter recorded 7 career interceptions, including 4 in 1958.   There was very little that Carpenter could not do as he also filled in doing kickoffs and punts for the Riders. Carpenter won three West All-Stars, at running back in 1955 and 1956 and at offensive end in 1958.  After his last year with the Riders in 1959, Carpenter returned to the States for one more year with the Denver Broncos of the fledgling AFL.  Ken Carpenter passed away on January 28, 2011.

NFL Stats for Ken Carpenter

Obituary For Ken Carpenter

Games Played, Passing, Rushing and Receiving
Year Team GP PA PC % Yds TD Int Sacked Yds TC Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD Long PTS
1954 SASK
1 0 0 0 0 0

110 545 4.9 3 37 523 14.1 6 42 45
1955 SASK
2 0 0 0 0 0

131 586 4.4 12 39 678 17.3 6 53 90
1956 SASK
5 3 60 50 0 1

148 727 4.8 8 43 784 18.2 6 67 84
1957 SASK
1 1 100 18 0 0

66 284 4.3 2 24 376 15.6 4 76 36
1958 SASK
0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 33 576 17.4 4 48 30
1959 SASK
0 0 0 0 0 0

58 270 4.8 2 19 220 11.5 1 23 18

Kickoff and Punt Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long PR Yds Avg TD Long
1954 SASK 17 630 37 0 62 19 93 4.9 0 17
1955 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 26 191 7.3 0 27
1956 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1957 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1958 SASK 5 74 14.8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0
1959 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 2

Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1954 SASK 2
1955 SASK 2
1956 SASK 2
1957 SASK 1
1958 SASK 1
1959 SASK 1

Kickoffs and Punting
Year Team KO Yds Avg Long S P Yds Avg Long S
1954 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 5 195 39 46 0
1955 SASK 6 362 60.3 88 0 2 72 36 37 0
1956 SASK 21 1147 54.6 70 0 0 0 0 0 0
1957 SASK 14 709 50 70 0 0 0 0 0 0
1958 SASK 2 111 55.5 56 0 25 953 38.1 69 0
1959 SASK 11 517 47 70 0 3 90 30 40 0

Interceptions
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long
1954 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
1955 SASK 1 7 7 0 7
1956 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
1957 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
1958 SASK 4 88 22 1
1959 SASK 1 0 0 0 0

Ken Carpenter

Ken Carpenter