Rick Klassen

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Rick Klassen
Born:July 25, 1959
Sardis, British Columbia
Died:December 10, 2016(2016-12-10) (aged 57)
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Career information
CFL statusNational
Position(s)DT
UniversitySimon Fraser University
Career history
As player
1981–1987
1989–1990
BC Lions
BC Lions
1988Saskatchewan Roughriders
Career highlights and awards
  • Grey Cup champion (1985)
CFL West All-Star1985
Awards
Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian

Richard Danny "Rick" Klassen (July 25, 1959 – December 10, 2016) was a

defensive lineman who played in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions from 1981 to 1987 and again in 1989 and 1990, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders
in 1988.

In 2003, Klassen was voted a member of the

BC Place Stadium as a part of the 1985 Grey Cup championship team. He died from cancer in 2016.[1][2]

Klassen's family donated his brain to research and discovered that he had had "chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in combination with dementia" and that it was "of the worst they've ever seen."[3]

College career

Klassen was recruited by Simon Fraser University as a running back from Sardis Secondary School, Chilliwack, B.C., and played his four years of college football with the Clan.

Klassen chose to play his football at SFU because, during the 1970s, it was considered the best football school in Canada and has produced over 160 football players who have gone on to play pro football. In his freshman year, Klassen served as the Clan's backup running back, behind all-star Rick House but, during off-season training between his freshman and sophomore year, he went from 195 to 225 pounds and was immediately switched to the Clan's offensive line. He spent the rest of his three years at SFU at

offensive guard
.

Early CFL career

Klassen was drafted in 1981 as an offensive guard by the British Columbia Lions as a territorial draft pick. Eight games into the

3-4 defense. In 1984, however, when Matthews, former Edmonton defensive co-ordinator, traded for James "Quick" Parker from the Eskimos, Klassen again switched positions. He was put back inside at defensive tackle, where he stayed for the rest of his CFL career. In June 1983, he retired from football due to a contract dispute, but returned nine days later.[4]

Career highlights

Klassen played in two

Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Defence. Klassen finished his CFL career second all-time in Grey Cup sacks with 4.5, only behind Tyrone Jones
.

The next two years, the B.C. Lions were close again but weren't able to get past the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1986 and 1987 Western Finals, losing 41–5 at

Commonwealth Stadium in 1986 and 31–7 at BC Place in 1987. In the years following their 1985 Grey Cup victory, the Lions faced some hard times off the field and Klassen soon found himself in Saskatchewan. General manager Bob Ackles left the Lions in 1986 for a job with the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys and the team proceeded to hire Joe Galat as its new general manager. After a 3-game losing streak midway through the 1987 CFL season, Don Matthews was fired as the Lions head coach by Galat and replaced by Larry Donovan. In 1988, after spending the first seven seasons of his career with B.C., Klassen was traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the off-season after Galat was hired. Klassen spent one season in Regina, where he helped bring Saskatchewan out of its dark years and led the Roughriders to an 11–7 record and their first home playoff game since 1976. Saskatchewan was beaten by Klassen's old team, the B.C. Lions, 42–18 in the Western Semi-Final and the Roughriders had yet to host a home playoff before hosting Calgary in the Western Semifinal during the 2007 CFL season. Klassen returned to his home in B.C. for his final two season with the Lions. He announced his retirement after the 1990 CFL season
.

References

  1. ^ Former B.C. Lions standout Rick Klassen dies at age 57
  2. ^ Richard Danny KLASSEN
  3. ^ Larsen, Karin (2017-07-06). "Former CFL star Rick Klassen's brain autopsy reveals extensive trauma". CBC. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  4. ^ Lions' Klassen ends retirement