Neil James Lumsden (born December 19, 1952) is a Canadian politician and retired professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. Lumsden was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in the 2022 provincial election. He serves as Minister of Sport. Lumsden played his entire professional career in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), mostly as a fullback and also as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

from 1976 to 1985.

Early life

Lumsden played high school football at

Northern Secondary School Northern Secondary School is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to Amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of ...

and graduated from Crescent School in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Football career

Some of his career highlights include the Vanier Cup with the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

Gee-Gees in 1975, being the eastern conference nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie in 1976, losing out to John Sciarra of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, and winning three

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

Championships with

from 1980 to 1982, and again being a Grey Cup winner in 1999 as General Manager of the

. In the 1981 Grey Cup game Lumsden with 8 receptions for 91 yards plus a carry for 2 yards was selected as the Outstanding Canadian being awarded with the Dick Suderman Trophy. In ten seasons, Lumsden played in 141 regular season games and carried the ball 767 times for 3,755 yards and 36 touchdowns. He also had 180 receptions for 1,729 yards and 15 more touchdowns. He was called several times during his career to fill in as a placekicker and punter.

Post-CFL career

Lumsden worked briefly in cycling when he was appointed COO of the Hamilton, Ontario,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

in 2003. This was only the fourth time the road cycling world championships had taken place outside Europe. Lumsden now heads Drive Marketing, a sports marketing firm and a division of OK&D Marketing Group of

Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...

. Lumsden acted as Honorary Chairman of the 2008 Desjardins Vanier Cup in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

. In 2014, Lumsden was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

Political career

In 2022, he was nominated to run as a candidate for the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

in the provincial electoral riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek. He was then elected to the

in the 2022 provincial election. He was appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport in June 2022. In June 2024, he became Minister of Sport.

Personal life

His son Jesse Lumsden was also a CFL football player who played for the

, and

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

before retiring in 2011. He is now a member of the Canadian Olympic Bobsled Team. In 2015, he and his daughter, Kristin Lumsden, a makeup artist/skincare specialist living and working in

, competed in the third season of '' The Amazing Race Canada''. In the first six legs, they placed 10th, 6th, 1st, 6th, 7th, and 6th. In the seventh leg, they placed last in 7th place and were eliminated from the show.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, Neil 1952 births Living people Canadian football fullbacks Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League announcers Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Canadian football people from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian football people from London, Ontario Canadian football running backs Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian television sportscasters Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats general managers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Northern Secondary School alumni Ottawa Gee-Gees football players Participants in Canadian reality television series Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario Politicians from London, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Toronto Argonauts players University of Ottawa alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario