Ezzrett Anderson
 | |
| Born: | February 10, 1920 Nashville, Arkansas, US |
|---|---|
| Died: | March 8, 2017 (aged 97) Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | End, Defensive back |
| College | Kentucky State |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1947 | Los Angeles Dons |
| 1948–1954 | Calgary Stampeders |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| CFL All-Star | 1949 |
Ezzrett "Sugarfoot" Anderson (February 10, 1920 – March 8, 2017) was an all-star professional Canadian football player.
Biography[]
Anderson graduated from Kentucky State and turned pro in 1945 and 1946 with the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Football League (along with Chuck Anderson, who would also later play pro in Canada).[1] After playing with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference in 1947, catching 11 passes for 126 yards and scoring one touchdown, he began a 6-year stay with the Calgary Stampeders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union. As a Stamp he caught 116 passes for 1576 yards and made 5 TDs, with his best year being 1950, when he caught 46 passes for 673 yards. He retired in 1954.[2]
Following in the footsteps of Herb Trawick, he was among the first African-American players in the Canadian professional leagues. In 1990, he was inducted into the Calgary Stampeders Wall of Fame.[3] He died on March 8, 2017 at the age of 97.[4]
He was married to Virnetta Anderson, who was elected to Calgary City Council in 1974 as the city's first Black municipal councillor.[5]
References[]
- ^ Not Only the Ball Was Brown: Black Players in Minor League Football, 1933–46 by Bob Gill and Tod Maher, The Coffin Corner: Vol. 11, No. 5 (1989)
- ^ [1] CFLAPEDIA entry - Ezzert Anderson
- ^ "Stamps Add to Wall of Fame". Calgary Stampeder Football Club. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
- ^ "Former Stamps player Anderson dies at age 97". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ William Humber, A Sporting Chance: Achievements of African-Canadian Athletes. Dundurn Press, 2004. ISBN 9781896219998. p. 65.
External links[]
- Anderson bio at Alberta's Black Pioneer Heritage
- Just Sports Stats
- 1920 births
- 2017 deaths
- American football ends
- Canadian football ends
- African-American players of American football
- African-American players of Canadian football
- Kentucky State Thorobreds football players
- Los Angeles Dons players
- Calgary Stampeders players
- Players of American football from Arkansas
- People from Nashville, Arkansas
- Black Canadian players of Canadian football
- American emigrants to Canada
- Sportspeople from Calgary
- Sportspeople from Nashville, Tennessee
- 20th-century African-American sportspeople
- 21st-century African-American people