Ron Stewart

Stewart's long time teamate Russ Jackson is generally considered the best Canadian QB to have played in the CFL, and you could certainly argue that Stewart was the best Canadian running back in CFL history.  Stewart graduated from Queen's University and joined the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1958, playing 13 seasons for the Eastern Riders until his retirement in 1970.  Steart's rookie season was not especially auspicious as he carried the ball only three times for a grand total of one yard.  Stewart's lack of use in his rookie season was hardly unusual because he was a rookie and because Ottawa already had an outstanding running back in Dave Thelen.  Stewart did earn his keep in his rookie season as a punt returner with a respectable 5.3 yard average in an era where there was no blocking on punt returns.  Stewart saw more use in his second season (1959) when he carried the ball 82 times for 425 yards and upping his punt return average to 6.8 yards per carry.  Stewarts best season and his only 1000 yard season came in 1960 when he rushed for 1020 yards on only 139 carries for an excellent 7.3 yard average.  Stewart finished second in the East in rushing that year, behind teammate Dave Thelan.  While Stewart never reached the magical 1000 plateau in a season again, he put up more than respectable numbers in the next three season, and then led the East in rushing in 1964 with 867 yards on 144 carries.  Stewart was a good pass receivers as well as a rusher.  Other than his first and last season, he was always in double digits in pass receiving an could be counted on generally for 15-20 catches per year with his best season coming later in his career with 25 catches for 316 yards in 1967.  While not big nubmers by today's standards, keep in mind Eastern teams only played 14 instead of 18 games and ran the ball more than half the time.  Stewart was a three time Easern All-Star (1960, 61 and 64), and was named the Outstanding Canadian in his 1000 yard season in 1960.  Ron Stewart was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

 1970 Topps
Games Played and Rushing
Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long
1958 OTT
3 1 0.3 0 3
1959 OTT
82 425 5.2 2 31
1960 OTT 14 139 1020 7.3 15 59
1961 OTT 12 107 706 6.6 6 72
1962 OTT 14 96 555 5.8 2 68
1963 OTT 14 103 523 5.1 3 35
1964 OTT 14 144 867 6 5 45
1965 OTT 14 68 314 4.8 2 16
1966 OTT 14 89 431 4.8 3 41
1967 OTT 14 64 488 7.6 4 70
1968 OTT 14 31 114 3.7 0 16
1969 OTT 14 29 151 5.2 1 26
1970 OTT 8 28 95 3.4 0 12
Receiving
Year Team Rec Yds Avg TD Long
1958 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1959 OTT 15 150 10 1 28
1960 OTT 15 240 16 1 38
1961 OTT 11 137 12.5 4 30
1962 OTT 19 347 18.3 3 37
1963 OTT 23 340 14.8 5 45
1964 OTT 20 411 20.6 3 70
1965 OTT 16 162 10.1 2 36
1966 OTT 19 275 14.5 2 50
1967 OTT 25 316 12.6 1 51
1968 OTT 14 129 9.2 0 23
1969 OTT 14 148 10.6 3 29
1970 OTT 9 40 4.4 0 10
Passing
Year Team PA PC % Yds TD Int
1958 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1959 OTT 3 2 66.7 40 1 0
1960 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1962 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 OTT 1 1 100 16 0 0
1964 OTT 5 3 60 87 2 0
1965 OTT 2 0 0 0 0 0
1966 OTT 5 1 20 33 0 0
1967 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1968 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1969 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
1970 OTT 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1958 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1959 OTT 13 265 20.4 0 38
1960 OTT 22 501 22.7 0 43
1961 OTT 10 231 23.1 0 62
1962 OTT 4 88 22 0 31
1963 OTT 14 405 28.9 0 93
1964 OTT 10 258 25.8 0 67
1965 OTT 3 32 10.7 0 19
1966 OTT 7 182 26 0 44
1967 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1968 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1969 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1970 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
Punt Returns
Year Team PR Yds Avg TD Long
1958 OTT 22 117 5.3 0 12
1959 OTT 40 271 6.8 0 28
1960 OTT 47 238 5.1 0 25
1961 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1962 OTT 8 27 3.4 0 11
1963 OTT 1 4 4 0 4
1964 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1965 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1966 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1967 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1968 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1969 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
1970 OTT 0 0 0 0 0
Fumbles
Year Team F FL OFR
1958 OTT

0
1959 OTT

0
1960 OTT

0
1961 OTT

0
1962 OTT

0
1963 OTT

0
1964 OTT 0
0
1965 OTT 1
0
1966 OTT 2
0
1967 OTT 1
2
1968 OTT 1 1 0
1969 OTT 1 1 0
1970 OTT 0 0 0