Tom Wilkinson (Canadian football)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Tom Wilkinson
No. 12, 16, 19
Born: (1943-01-04) January 4, 1943 (age 81)
Edmonton Eskimos
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star1974, 1978, 1979
CFL West All-Star1974, 1978, 1979
Awards1974 CFL MOP
1974 Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy
1978 Grey Cup MVP (Offence)
1978 Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy
Honors1982 - Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour
RecordsEskimos Record
  • Most Interceptions Thrown – Career (126)
Career stats

Tom Wilkinson (born January 4, 1943) is an American former professional

Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, where he played on six Grey Cup-winning teams. He was a Western Conference and CFL all-star quarterback in 1974, 1978 and 1979 and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 1974. Wilkinson has been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
.

Early life

Wilkinson was born in Iowa and moved to Wyoming with his parents in 1945. Wilkinson played high school football in the small town of Greybull, Wyoming. He was scouted as both a football and baseball player out of high school.

Football career

Wilkinson attended the

Edmonton Eskimos and played well enough in the remaining pre-season games to make the team as a backup, but by season's end he was their top passer with 2,475 yards in which he completed 177 out of 268. Wilkinson, known affectionately as "Wilkie" by Eskimo fans had amongst his talents an uncanny knack for drawing members of the opposing line "offside" pretty much at will. It was 5 yards you could all but rely on. A small man in a big man's game he used guile as much as athleticism to make the big plays and win championships. He played the balance of his career in Eskimo Green and Gold in a two-quarterback system, first with Bruce Lemmerman and then with Warren Moon
. After his first professional seasons, when he had been considered especially injury-prone, Wilkinson did not miss a single game during his 10 years with the Eskimos.

He first led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory in 1975, after losses in the championship game in 1973 and 1974. After quarterbacking the Eskimos during one more Grey Cup loss in 1977, Wilkinson became part of the 5-time Grey Cup champion Eskimo dynasty from 1978 through 1981, the last two years acting as a backup to Moon.

Including his time with the Rifles, Wilkinson threw for 24,531 passing yards on 1754 completions from 2,949 attempts and with 137 interceptions to 172 touchdowns. Although not known for his running abilities he also added 1,250 rushing yards on 352 runs with 13 touchdowns.

He retired after the Eskimos' 1981 Grey Cup Championship year. Wilkinson was the first player honoured on the Edmonton Eskimo's "Wall of Fame" at Commonwealth Stadium in 1982.

After retirement

He was elected to the

indoor football
league that failed to launch and never played a single game.

In 2012 in honour of the 100th Grey Cup, Canada Post used his image on a series of commemorative postage stamps. The image was also used on presentation posters and other materials to promote the Grey Cup game and other celebrations associated with the centennial.

Notes

  1. ^ Terry Jones (2004-06-16). "Loopy launch". Edmonton Sun. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved 2006-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

References

  • Official CFL Stats 1967 to 1981
  • Ronald A. Ferroni, the 2001 Unofficial Football Encyclopedia, Hamilton 2001.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Wilkinson_(Canadian_football)&oldid=1208458252"