Brian Fryer (born July 16, 1953) is a retired football player who starred at wide receiver for the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...
, and played professionally for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
and 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 the Brick Field at Comm ...
and
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...
of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...
.
Strathcona High School (1968-1971)
Fryer was a three-sport athlete at
Strathcona High School
Strathcona High School, colloquially referred to as Scona and SCHS, is a public high school located in Edmonton, Alberta. The school was referred to as Strathcona Composite High School until 2014. A $6.1 million modernization project was complet ...
in Edmonton from the fall of 1968 to the spring of 1971, starring on the Lords' football, basketball and track and field teams all three years. As an intermediate boy in his grade 11 year at the
Alberta Schools Athletic Association provincial track and field meet in Calgary, Fryer won and set the ASAA record for the 120 yard hurdles with a time of 14.4 seconds. The following year at the provincial championship in Edmonton, Fryer once again won the 120 yard hurdles, setting a new record of 14.2 seconds. He also smashed the records in both the long jump (7.08m) and triple jump (13.8m), setting standards that stood for almost two decades before being surpassed. In total Fryer won four gold medals and set three provincial records in ASAA competition. In his last year Fryer was awarded the Most Outstanding Athlete award.
University of Alberta (1972-1975)
From 1972 to 1975 Fryer was a dominant wide receiver for the University of Alberta football team. In his first season the
Alberta Golden Bears went 9-1 and beat Waterloo Lutheran University (now
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campus ...
) 20-7 for the
Vanier Cup
The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanie ...
symbolizing Canadian University football supremacy.
On October 12, 1974, Fryer set a single game
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the C ...
(now U Sports) record with 227 yards receiving against the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being inst ...
. In 1974, he set a single season CIS record with 58 receptions, and recorded the first 1000-yard receiving season in CIS history with a record 1068 yards. In addition he scored 16 touchdowns, including a CIS record 14 receiving touchdowns. His total of 16 touchdowns on the season was the third highest total in a single season, behind
Paul Brule
Paul Brule (born February 21, 1945, in Montreal, Quebec) is a former football player who starred at St. Francis Xavier University in the 1960s before playing professionally in the Canadian Football League. In March 2018, it was announced that Brul ...
's 25 touchdowns at
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada.
History
St. Fra ...
in 1967 and Brule's 20 touchdowns at St. FX in 1966. He finished 1974 as an all Canadian all-star and was nominated as the Canada West's nominee for the Hec Creighton Trophy.
In 1975 Fryer made 51 receptions for 943 yards during the season and won the
Hec Crighton Trophy awarded annually to the most outstanding football player in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. As well, he was on the all Canadian all star team.
Fryer finished his career at the University of Alberta with the CIS records for most receiving yards in a game, a season and a career, and the records for most receptions in a season and a career, and the most receiving touchdowns in a season. He made a record 136 career receptions, for a record 2655 career yards receiving. His career total of 34 touchdowns was second on the CIS career list to the 51 scored by Paul Brule at St. Francis Xavier University from 1964-1967. His career total of 20 receiving touchdowns tied him for second all-time with Mike Kirkpatrick of
Saint Mary's University (Halifax)
Saint Mary's University (SMU) is a formerly Catholic, public university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The school is best known for having nationally leading programs in business and chemistry, as well as one of the best Canadian women ...
, six behind Eric Walter's record 26 at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
. This was quite an accomplishment considering he was only a starting receiver for only two years (1974/75). Fryer also totaled 1068 rushing yards and 505 kickoff return yards during his four years at Alberta.
Accomplishments were: 2 Time Western and All Canadian All-Star. 1974 Canada West Hec Crighton nominee. 1975 Winner of the Hec Creighton Trophy as the most outstanding football player in CIS. 1975 Winner of the University of Alberta Wilson Challenge Trophy as the most outstanding male athlete. 1983...Initial inductee into the University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame.
Washington Redskins (1976-1978)
Fryer's accomplishments at the University of Alberta caught the attention of Bob Windish, the director of player personnel for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. After watching Fryer at a practice in September 1975 he passed a report on to Alouettes head coach
Marv Levy
Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, le ...
.
Levy, who was once an assistant with the Washington Redskins of the NFL, told Redskins head coach
George Allen that Fryer was a player with NFL potential.
Redskins director of player personnel Tim Temerario and director of college scouting Mark Allman paid visits to Alberta that winter to assess Fryer's abilities.
As a result, the Redskins selected Fryer with the 234th pick in the 8th round of the
NFL draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
on April 8, 1976.
As an Edmonton-born and trained player, Fryer's CFL negotiating rights were held by the Edmonton Eskimos by territorial exemption, but the Redskins easily exceeded the Eskimos' top offer of around $100,000.
On April 28 Fryer signed a three-year contract with Washington for $155,000, plus a $15,000 signing bonus and a new car, making him the first Canadian born player trained at a Canadian university to be drafted, signed by an NFL club and make a team as a rookie.
Fryer was one of 34 rookies at the Redskins training camp that summer, but the only one who made the team. He caught seven passes for 110 yards and scored one touchdown in pre-season exhibition play and was slotted into the lineup as a special teams player. Fryer returned nine kickoffs for 166 yards in four NFL regular season games before strained ligaments in his knee ended his season. They would be the only four NFL regular season games Fryer would play. He spent the 1977 season rehabbing on the practice roster, before parting ways with the team in 1978.
CFL career (1978-1985)
Fryer continued his pro career in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1978. The Eskimos were a league powerhouse that had played in the
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) 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 be ...
championship game in four of the previous five seasons, and were loaded with star players including running back Jim Germany, receiver
Waddell Smith
James Waddell Smith (born August 24, 1955 in New Orleans, Louisiana) was an American-born football player for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) where he played for seven seasons from 1977 to 1983. He was an All-Star in 197 ...
and future Hall of Famers
Tom Wilkinson (Canadian football) and
George McGowan. In 1978 two more future Hall of Famers were added to the roster in receiver
Tom Scott (Canadian football)
Tom Scott (born November 19, 1951) is a former Canadian Football League receiver for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders. He was drafted in the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. In an 11-year professional caree ...
and future NFL great
Warren Moon
Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmont ...
. As a result, Fryer's contributions to the Eskimos' Grey Cup winning 1978 season were minimal; he played in nine of the team's 16 games and caught 20 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown.
Fryer's opportunities were reduced again during the 1979 season, as future Hall of Famer
Brian Kelly (Canadian football)
Brian Kelly (born March 27, 1956) is a former Canadian Football League wide receiver for the Edmonton Eskimos who, in nine years from 1979–1987 caught 575 passes for 11,169 yards and 97 touchdowns. Kelly was a member of 5 Grey Cup Championship ...
joined Smith and Scott to form the most dangerous receiving corps in the league. Fryer appeared in only two games as the Eskimos won a second consecutive Grey Cup.
Injuries to Smith and Scott allowed Fryer to become a more regular contributor to the Eskimos during the 1980 season. He appeared in 15 games and caught 23 passes for 408 yards and two touchdowns. In the post-season he caught four passes for 77 yards as Edmonton won its third consecutive Grey Cup, 48-10 over 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 of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
.
In 1981 Scott, Kelly and Smith caught passes for 3982 yards as the trio combined with Wilkinson and Moon in an aerial assault on CFL defences. The team went 14-1-1 and won their fourth Grey Cup in four years, but Fryer only appeared in one game all season, catching a single pass for 11 yards after being in a season-ending injury the first game of the season.
Fryer had his finest pro year in 1982, as the dangerous receiving trio of Scott, Kelly and Smith became a quartet. Fryer made 55 catches for 812 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and made four receptions for 55 yards in the Grey Cup game as the Eskimos won a record fifth consecutive championship.
Fryer had 46 receptions for 639 yards in Moon's final CFL season of 1983, and had 464 yards in 1984. He appeared in eight games for Edmonton in 1985 before finishing the season, and his pro career, with three games for the Ottawa Rough Riders.
His CFL totals in 83 regular season games over eight years are 179 receptions, 2670 yards and seven touchdowns.
After football
Since his retirement in 1985, Brian has been employed as the executive director of Football Alberta, administering all amateur football programs in the province. Since 1995, Brian is still an active member of the Edmonton Eskimo Alumni Association as a director, president and chair of Casino and Scholarship committees.
Fryer was announced for induction 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 great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...
on February 21, 2013, in recognition of his
CIS playing career with the Alberta Golden Bears.
[Football Canada release on Fryer's induction into the CFHOF (Feb. 21/2013) ]
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Fryer was inducted into the Alberta Schools Athletic Association Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and inducted into the City of Edmonton's Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. As well he is inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as part of the team awards for winning the Grey Cup 5 years in a row (1978–82).
References
External links
Canadian Football Hall of Fame website
Website of Strathcona High School in Edmonton
ASAA Hall of Fame
ASAA biographical profile
Montreal Gazette article on Fryer's negotiations with the Redskins and Eskimos from Dec 11 1976
Football Alberta website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, Brian
1953 births
Living people
Alberta Golden Bears football players
American football wide receivers
Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian football wide receivers
Canadian players of American football
Edmonton Elks players
Ottawa Rough Riders players
Players of Canadian football from Alberta
Sportspeople from Edmonton
Washington Redskins players