Brian Mercer "Old Man of the Mountain" Timmis (December 5, 1899 – August 22, 1971) was a star senior

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 ...

player in the

Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union The Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union was a Canadian football league created on September 22, 1910 and disbanded after the 1936 season. It joined the Manitoba Rugby Football Union and the Alberta Rugby Football Union to form the Western Canada Ru ...

(SRFU) and

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

(IRFU) for a combined 17 seasons, mainly for the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton interest ...

. He is a three-time

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 ...

champion as a player, having won with the Tigers in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, and

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. He later coached the

Hamilton Flying Wildcats The Hamilton Wildcats were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) from 1941 to 1947, and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) from 1948 to 1949. The team was formed ...

, leading them to the 1943 Grey Cup championship. He was an inaugural 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, ...

in 1963 and was also inducted into

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 ...

in 1975.

Brian Timmis Stadium Brian Timmis Stadium was a soccer stadium 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 Cen ...

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 ...

was named after him.

Early life

Timmis was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in 1910 where his father, a militia member, was stationed.Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, Brian Timmis
/ref> He played football locally before enlisting in the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

in 1915 by stating he was two years older than he actually was. After returning from the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1919, he played junior football for the Ottawa Seconds. After being released from military service, Timmis joined the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

where he was stationed in Regina.

Senior football career

Following his move to Regina, Timmis played locally for the

Regina Rugby Club The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

where he played from 1920 to 1922. In a game in 1921, an opponent nearly strangled him with his own chinstrap, so Timmis played the rest of his career without a helmet. In 1923, he moved back to Ottawa and played one season for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

. He joined the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and played in his first game with the club on October 4, 1924, starting at

middle wing Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (d ...

. The team finished in first place in the IRFU in 1924, but lost the East Final to the

Queen's Golden Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Stadium (Kingston) ...

. After sub-par seasons in 1925 and 1926, where the team did not qualify for playoffs, Timmis played in his first

game in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, but the Tigers lost to the

Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. Spanning three decades, they appeared in four Grey Cup ...

. The Tigers then won back-to-back Grey Cup championships over Timmis' former club, Regina, in

and

while Timmis scored two touchdowns in the 1928 game. Timmis was named an Eastern All-Star by the

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in 1932 at the Tackle position, which was the first year players were named all-stars. He capped off his year by winning his third Grey Cup championship in the

20th Grey Cup The 20th Grey Cup was played on December 3, 1932, before 4,806 fans at the Civic Stadium at Hamilton. The Hamilton Tigers defeated the Regina Roughriders 25–6. External links * * Grey Cup Canadian football competitions in Hamilton, ...

game by once again defeating the

Regina Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. He retired at the end of the 1935 season which culminated in a

loss to the Winnipeg Pegs. At the behest of the Tigers organization, Timmis came out of retirement to play in the team's 1936 IRFU playoff game against the

. He played with infected tonsils and shoulder neuritis, leaving his left arm limp, but still played the entire game. He was cheered on by the crowd in Ottawa as he left the field as a player for the final time.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Timmis had numerous stints as a football coach, highlighted by his 1943 season when he coached the

to a win in the 31st Grey Cup game.

Personal life

Timmis' son, Brian II, played fullback for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

(the same club that Timmis had played for) in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

.CFLapedia players
/ref> His great-grandson, Mercer Timmis, was drafted by 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 ...

(a continuation of the Tigers and Flying Wildcats) and, as of 2018, plays as

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 team.

References

External links

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmis, Brian 1899 births 1971 deaths Canadian football people from Winnipeg Players of Canadian football from Manitoba Saskatchewan Roughriders players Ottawa Rough Riders players Hamilton Tigers football players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees