Fritz Hanson

Infobox CFL player
Name=Fritz Hanson

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ImageWidth=150
Caption=
Position=RB
number=
College=North Dakota State
DateOfBirth=July 13, 1914
Birthplace= Perham, Minnesota
DateOfDeath=Death date and age|1996|02|14|1914|07|13
Deathplace= Calgary, Alberta
Height_ft=
Height_in=
Weight_lbs=145
playing_years=1935–1946
1947–1948
playing_teams=Winnipeg Winnipegs/Blue Bombers
Calgary Stampeders
career_highlights=
CFLAllStar=All-Western running back (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941)
Awards=Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy (1938)
Honors=Grey Cup wins: 1935, 1939, 1941, 1948
Retired #s=
Records=300 punt return yards in a Grey Cup game (1935)
CFHOF=24&player=Hanson,%20Melvin%20(Fritz)

Melvin "Fritz" Hanson (July 13, 1914 in Perham, Minnesota – February 14, 1996 in Calgary, Alberta) was a Canadian Football League player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders. Hanson was signed by the Blue Bombers for $125 a game and free room and board, which was a considerable sum in the cash-strapped dirty thirties. Nicknamed the 'Galloping Ghost', 'Twinkle Toes', and the 'Perham Flash', Hanson was one of the pioneers of football in Western Canada and a huge star at the time. Although he weighed only 145 pounds he used his incredible quickness to evade defenders. He helped lead the Blue Bombers to the first Grey Cup victory by a western Canadian team in 1935 and won again with the Bombers in 1939 and 1941.cite web |url=http://www.footballhof.com/famers/player.asp?id=100 |title=Melvin "Fritz" Hanson |accessdate=2008-01-04 |work=Hall of Fame players |publisher=Canadian Football Hall of Fame] cite web |url=http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/1980/fhanson.htm |title=Fritz Hanson |accessdate=2008-01-04 |publisher=The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame & Museum] In the 1935 Grey Cup Game Hanson recorded 300 punt return yards, a record that still stands today, including a sensational 78 yard return for the winning touchdown. He played seven seasons with Winnipeg before playing for the Calgary Stampeders where he won a fourth Grey Cup in 1948.

Hanson was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. He became a Canadian citizen in 1966 and, in 2005, Hanson was named one of the Blue Bombers 20 All-Time Greats. He died in Calgary on February 14, 1996, at the age of 81. [cite web |url=http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=page&id=71 |title=Today in History >> February |accessdate=2008-01-04 |publisher=CFL.ca]

References

External links

* [http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/1980/fhanson.htm Profile at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003569 The Canadian Encyclopedia]