Robert Porter "Buddy" Tinsley (August 16, 1924 – September 14, 2011) was a

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)

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. He 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, ...

in 1982, and was a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Baylor University Hall of Fame. Tinsley was born in Damon, Texas and played collegiately at Baylor. He spent one season with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams before joining the Blue Bombers, where he often played both ways at tackle. He is noted for a story regarding the

38th Grey Cup The 38th Grey Cup, played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on November 25, 1950, before 27,101 fans, also known as the Mud Bowl, was the Canadian football championship game played between the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Argo ...

, known as the "Mud Bowl" because of poor weather/field conditions. "As the legend goes, Tinsley, a rookie Bomber lineman, was face down in the muck and water, gasping for breath when an alert official pulled him from his murky grave".Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame

Tinsley died
on September 14, 2011, aged 87, from undisclosed causes, in

Winnipeg, Manitoba 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 ...

Footnotes

1924 births 2011 deaths American football offensive linemen Baylor Bears football players Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Dons players Players of American football from Brazoria County, Texas Players of Canadian football from Texas Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 20th-century American sportsmen {{offensive-lineman-1920s-stub