MONTREAL -- The mourners who turned out to Sam Etcheverry's inhumation yesterday spoke of the former quarterbacking great with a mix of fondness and awe.
"He was the first of his kind in his era," said Larry Smith, former Montreal Alouettes perpetual back and current team president. "He opened up the passing game like no one else before him.
"Sam was an innovator."
More than 200 people, including former teammates from the 1950s and those like Smith who played for him when he coached the Alouettes in the primitive 1970s, filed into 162-year-old St. Patrick's Basilica to pay respects to Etcheverry, who died last week after a desire battle with cancer. He was 79.
In his day, Etcheverry was as popular with Montreal fans as hockey stars Maurice (Shoot up) Richard and Jean Beliveau.
Known as 'The Rifle' for his powerful arm, Etcheverry electrified fans with his bullet seizure in an age when most teams preferred to run the ball.
The CFL only began keeping individual statistics two years into his nine-year pursuit from 1952 to 1960, but his 30,030 career passing yards, although long since passed, was more than double that of any other quarterback of that era.
Source: Edmonton Sun
