Bernie Faloney (June 15, 1932 – June 14, 1999) was a 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 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 ...

(primarily with the

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 an outstanding American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

. Born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Faloney is a member of 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, ...

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame. Faloney's jersey 10 was retired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999. In 2005, Faloney was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

. In 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's Top 50 Players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

Early life and college career

B.J. "Bernie" Faloney was born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, where he played high school football before attending the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. There, he played

as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, helping the Terrapins make it to the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

in 1952. In his senior season of 1953, Faloney quarterbacked Maryland to be

NCAA Division I-A national football champions A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best co ...

and into the 1954

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

. At season's end, Faloney finished fourth in the balloting for the 1953

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

Professional football career

Faloney was drafted in the first round of the 1954

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

draft by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. (originally appeared in ''The Globe and Mail'') San Francisco offered Faloney $9000 to play

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and back-up quarterback. However

Pop Ivy Lee Frank "Pop" Ivy (January 25, 1916 – May 17, 2003) was an American football player and coach who was the only person to serve as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL), the American Football League (AFL) and the Western Interpro ...

, coach of the University of Maryland's Orange Bowl opponent,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, was moving to the

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 ...

of the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

and offered Faloney a $12,500 contract to accompany him. At the time the

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...

was worth 10 percent more than its American counterpart, so the choice to head north was easy, Faloney later recalled. A scrambling quarterback, Faloney helped the Eskimos win the 1954 Grey Cup but then fulfilled his mandatory service in the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

, serving with the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1956. A free agent after his military service, Faloney signed with the

in 1957 and became one of the major stars of the

, winning two Grey Cup championships with the Ti-Cats. Traded from Hamilton in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, he played for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

and 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 ...

before retiring in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. Faloney was the Eastern Conference's All-Star quarterback on five occasions, 1958,

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

. In

, he won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award. His career CFL stats include 1,493 pass completions of 2,876 attempts for 153 touchdowns and 24,264 yards. He is the first CFL quarterback to win a Grey Cup championship with both Eastern and Western Conference teams. Bernie Faloney was inducted into the

in 1974, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 1983, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, and

in 1999. In November 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

Later life and death

In retirement, Faloney made his home in Hamilton, Ontario, where he became a part owner of a construction company. An avid horseman, he remained active in community and business affairs until being stricken with

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

. Faloney was the first Tiger-Cat player to have his number retired by the club when the team announced his number retirement on June 8, 1999. He died six days later on June 14, 1999, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Tribute

Cannon Street in Hamilton, Ontario, in the Brian Timmis Stadium and

Tim Hortons Field Hamilton Stadium (originally Tim Hortons Field) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 2014 with a capacity of 22,500, it was built as a replacement on the same site as the previous stadium, name ...

area is also known as ''Bernie Faloney Way.''

Video clips

Canadian Football Hall of Fame member

References

External sources

* Graham Kelly, ''The Grey Cup'' (1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Faloney, Bernie 1932 births 1999 deaths American football quarterbacks BC Lions players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League announcers Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Canadian football quarterbacks Deaths from cancer in Ontario Deaths from colorectal cancer in Canada Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Maryland Terrapins football players Montreal Alouettes players People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario United States Air Force airmen