William Stukus (May 15, 1916 – June 19, 2003) was a

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

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 ...

. Stukus started with 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 ...

, winning a

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 ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, and being named an all-star. Perhaps his best season was in 1942, with the wartime all-military

Toronto RCAF Hurricanes The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes was a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union and was formed during the World War II, Second World War after both the Western Interprovincial Football Union and Interprovincial Rugby Football Union suspended operatio ...

, when he was an all-star, won a third Grey Cup and was the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883, and in 1903 it became the first major competition to ado ...

Imperial Oil Trophy winner as MVP. He played with the Toronto Indians and then returned to the Argonauts in 1947, winning his fourth Grey Cup. He played 48 regular season and 17 playoff games for the Argos. He finished his career playing three seasons with 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 ...

. While serving in the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

during the war, he also had the good fortune to play in the famed ''Tea Bowl'', where the Canadian Army football team defeated the American Army team 16–6 at

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

on February 13, 1944 in London, England. Bill was one of the famed Stukus brothers. Bill and his brothers Annis and Frank played together in the offensive backfield of the 1938 Grey Cup champion Argonaut team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stukus, Bill 1916 births 2003 deaths Canadian people of Lithuanian descent Edmonton Elks players Ontario Rugby Football Union players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Canadian football people from Toronto Toronto Argonauts players Canadian football quarterbacks