Ted Dushinski

Ted Dushinski
Date of birth: November 10, 1943(1943-11-10)
Place of birth: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Date of death: October 23, 2005(2005-10-23) (aged 61)
Place of death: Vancouver, British Columbia
Career information
CFL status: Non-import
Position(s): DB/SE
CJFL: Saskatoon Hilltops
Organizations
 As player:
1965-1975
1976-1977
Saskatchewan Roughriders
BC Lions
Career highlights and awards
Honours: Saskatchewan Roughrider Hall of Fame

Ted J. Dushinski (November 10, 1943 – October 25, 2005) was a former defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Contents

Early days

Ted Dushinski was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1943. Dushinski loved hockey when younger, playing junior hockey with the Saskatoon Quakers as a young boy. He continued playing senior hockey during the off-season even after joining a pro football team, only stopping when football coach Eagle Keys requested it in case of injury.[1]

Dushinski played junior football with the Saskatoon Hilltops before joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1965.

CFL

Dushinski played eleven seasons with the team, helping them to victory in their first ever Grey Cup win in 1966 over the Ottawa Rough Riders led by Russ Jackson by a score of 29-14. That team featured a strong defense, with linebacker Wayne Shaw and fellow defensive back Dale West. He also played in the 55th Grey Cup of 1967 and the 57th Grey Cup of 1969, losses to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa, respectively, the latter being Russ Jackson's final game. Dushinski was elected to the All Star Team in 1972. Leaving the Saskatchewan team after eleven seasons, he joined the BC Lions from 1976 to 1977.

Post-football

He decided to retire after the '77 season for business and family reasons, stating in an 1978 interview with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that he wanted to "sever my relationships with football with good feelings [...] the game has treated me well and I decided to walk away from it gracefully."[1]

He was married to singer/songwriter Susan Jacks. The couple have a son, Thad. In 1983 they moved to Nashville, Tennessee and were living in Antioch before his death.

Honors

Dushinski was enshrined into the Saskatchewan Roughrider Hall of Fame in 1993.[2]

Death

He died of lung cancer in 2005, at the age of 61.

Videos

Seen in game 3 of the 1970 Western Conference finals in its entirety

References

  1. ^ a b Saskatoon StarPhoenix (October 25, 2005). "Former Roughriders defensive back Ted Dushinski dead at age 61". Canadian Press. http://www.canada.com/sports/football/cfl/story.html?id=cee25e7c-9ba2-47e5-aaa4-333a30f92a9e. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
  2. ^ "Roughrider great Ted Dushinski passes away". CBC Sports. October 25, 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2005/10/25/saskatchewan051025.html. Retrieved 2007-06-07.