Melvin "Fritz" Hanson (July 13, 1914 – February 14, 1996) was a Canadian football player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders. Hanson was signed by the Blue Bombers for $125 a game and free room and board, which was a considerable sum in the cash-strapped

dirty thirties The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...

. Nicknamed the "Galloping Ghost", "Twinkle Toes" and the "Perham Flash", Hanson was one of the pioneers of football in Western Canada and a huge star at the time. Although he weighed only he used his incredible quickness to evade defenders. He helped lead the Blue Bombers to the first

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 ...

victory by a western Canadian team in 1935 and won again with the Bombers in 1939 and 1941. In the 1935 Grey Cup Game Hanson had an incredible 334 punt return yards on 13 returns, a record that still stands today, including a sensational 78-yard return for the winning touchdown. He played with Winnipeg from 1935 through 1946 then spent two years playing for the Calgary Stampeders, where he won a fourth Grey Cup in 1948. Hanson was elected 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 t ...

in 1963 and inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. He became a Canadian citizen in 1966 and, in 2005, Hanson was named one of the Blue Bombers 20 All-Time Greats. He died in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

on February 14, 1996, at the age of 81. Hanson and his wife, Maxine, had four daughters.

References

External links

Profile at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame

Fritz Hanson's profile at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame

The Canadian Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Fritz 1914 births 1996 deaths American players of Canadian football American emigrants to Canada Canadian football return specialists Calgary Stampeders players North Dakota State Bison football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Perham, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota