Avatus Stone was an offensive and defensive back who played five years in the CFL, after playing college ball at Syracuse. Stone was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL in 1953, but spent four years (1953-56) with Ottawa and his last year (1957) with Montreal. Besides being a solid two way player, Stone added to his versatility by returning kicks and punting. Stone was normally the number two running back with Ottawa, but his best season offensively came in 1953 before the East started keeping individual stats other than scoring. Stone had 11 touchdowns in 1953 and his 65 points (touchdowns were only worth 5 points then) was third best in the East and helped win him an East All Star at running back. There rwere no CFL All-Stars until 1962. Stone's offensive contribution decline in the nex three seasons, but ran for a total of 1161 yardss in those three seasons with a good average gain per carry. Defensively, Stone 6 interceptions in 1954, third best in the East and added another 4 in 1955 when he was named a East All-Star at defensive back. That makes Stone one of the small number of players in CFL history to win All-Star honours on both offense and defense. Stone was also a very good punter, finishing second in the East in punting average in all five season he played, always behind Cam Fraser of Hamilton. After leaving Montreal, Stone did play one game in the NFL with the Baltimore Coltos in 1958. Avatus Stone passed away on November 2, 2000.
Wikipedia Article on Avatus Stone
Stone in Stiff Competion For Job - July 28, 1955
| Year | Team | GP | PA | PC | % | Yds | TD | Int | Sacked | Yds | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | OTT | 13 | 65 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | OTT | 7 | 3 | 42.9 | 63 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 404 | 4.9 | 2 | 18 | 193 | 10.7 | 0 | 32 | 18 | |||
| 1955 | OTT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 505 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 232 | 19.3 | 0 | 46 | 14 | ||
| 1956 | OTT | 2 | 1 | 50 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 252 | 6.3 | 1 | 8 | 169 | 21.3 | 1 | 81 | 23 | |
| 1957 | MON | 7 |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 305 | 4.9 | 1 | 15 | 152 | 10.1 | 0 | 20 | 11 |
| Year | Team | P | Yds | Avg | Long | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | OTT | 10 |
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| 1954 | OTT | 163 | 6913 | 42.4 | 79 | 3 |
| 1955 | OTT | 118 | 5171 | 43.9 | 71 | 4 |
| 1956 | OTT | 100 | 4499 | 45 | 71 | 11 |
| 1957 | MON | 76 | 3123 | 41.1 | 61 | 2 |
| Year | Team | KOR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | OTT | ||||||||||
| 1954 | OTT | 8 | 158 | 19.8 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| 1955 | OTT | 8 | 201 | 25.1 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 1956 | OTT | 3 | 82 | 27.3 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957 | MON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Team | Int | Yds | Avg | TDInt | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | OTT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1954 | OTT | 6 | 112 | 18.7 | 1 | 40 |
| 1955 | OTT | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 0 | 14 |
| 1956 | OTT | 0 | 22 | 0 | 22 | |
| 1957 | MON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The 1956 yards came on a lateral on an interception return.
