Windsor native Bobby Dawson, who won two Grey Cup titles with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, was laid to rest on Friday.
Obit: Dawson helped Fratmen to national title and won two Grey Cups
Jim Parker, Windsor Star
The 21st induction banquet for the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 features Bobby Dawson (back row middle), who passed away on Sunday at the age of 85.
Windsor native Bobby Dawson, who won two Grey Cup titles with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, was laid to rest on Friday.
Dawson passed away at the age of 85 on Sunday and was buried on Friday in Ancaster.
“Bobby was a major, major player,” longtime friend and former Windsor AKO Fratmen teammate Joe Filbey said of Dawson. “He was the best player we had in the area. He was outstanding.”
Dawson played halfback and quarterback for the Fratmen and led the team in scoring three-straight years from 1950-52.
“We had many reunions over the years and most of the gang attended,” Filbey said. “It was quite a close team.”
In 1952, Dawson helped the Fratmen rally from a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 15-12 win over Edmonton Wildcats. Filbey noted it was Dawson that was responsible for the winning touchdown in that game as the Fratmen took the Canadian Junior Football Championship, which was also known as the Little Grey Cup.
“He was outstanding,” Filbey said. “He scored five touchdowns in one league game. No one’s ever done that.”
That led him to Hamilton, which was one of three Canadian Football League teams to take in that final. He opted for Hamilton because it was close to home.
In 1953, Dawson was named CFL rookie of the year and played in four Grey Cups with Hamilton during seven seasons in the league and winning in 1953 and 1957. He retired in 1959.
Filbey and Dawson would meet up again on opposite sidelines when Dawson was coaching the Burlington Braves and Filbey was coaching the AKO Fratmen with Al Newman. In 1960, Dawson helped Burlington transition from the Ontario Rugby Football Union to the Ontario Football Conference and Filbey’s Fratmen beat Dawson’s Braves in that year’s final.
From 1961-66, Dawson coached McMaster University and won five-straight league titles.
Outside of football, Dawson was vice-president of sales at CHCH TV, co-owner of Alexander, Pearson and Dawson National Television Sales Organization and taught advertising and media at Mohawk College and in 2001 was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.
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