William Norman "Mouse" Fieldgate (January 12, 1932 – March 6, 2020) was a Canadian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. Fieldgate played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

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 ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

for his entire 14-year career. Born in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, he is a 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, ...

, the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in the BC Place stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia' ...

, and the BC Lions Wall of Fame. Fieldgate's #75 jersey is one of ten numbers retired by the BC Lions. In 2006, Fieldgate was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. Fieldgate is widely considered one of the best Canadian

outside linebackers Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

to have ever played the game. The Norm Fieldgate Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding defensive player in the CFL Western Division, is named in his honour.

Amateur football career

Fieldgate did not play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

, but instead played amateur Canadian football for the

Regina Rams The Regina Rams represent the University of Regina, located in Regina, Saskatchewan, in the sport of Canadian football in U Sports. The Rams joined U Sports in 1999 and have competed in the Canada West Conference since then. The program has wo ...

of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to professional footbal ...

Professional football career

Following his amateur career, Fieldgate was recruited by CFL legend and first

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the BC Lions

Annis Stukus Annis Paul Stukus (October 25, 1914 – May 20, 2006) was a Canadian football player, journalist, coach, broadcaster, and executive. He was the first head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions of the Western Interprovincial Football ...

, to join the BC Lions for their inaugural, 1954 season. Fieldgate played

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

, defensive end, linebacker, and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the Lions over his 14-year career, but achieved the most success as a linebacker. Fieldgate was one of only two "original" Lions with the club when the Lions won their first Grey Cup Championship in 1964 (the other was Fieldgate's teammate By Bailey). Fieldgate was also the longest serving original Lion, with a career that spanned 14 years and 223 games. In the

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, and

1963 CFL season The 1963 CFL season is considered to be the tenth season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the sixth Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1963 Charter Membership into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame started ...

s, Fieldgate was named to the CFL Western Division All-Star Team as a linebacker. In the

, Fieldgate was also named a CFL All-Star. In the

1962 CFL season The 1962 CFL season is considered to be the ninth season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the fifth Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1962 The Canadian Football Hall of Fame was established in Hamilton. T ...

, Fieldgate was honoured with a "Norm Fieldgate Night" by the BC Lions, the second player to receive such an honour. The

1965 CFL season The 1965 CFL season is considered to be the 12th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the eighth Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1965 The Canadian Football League commissioned an economic study of Can ...

saw Fieldgate win the Bobby Bourne Memorial Trophy as the Lions' "Most Popular Player." Fieldgate was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1970, and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1979. In 2003, Fieldgate was voted a member of the BC Lions All-Time Dream Team, at the linebacker position, as part of the club's 50 year anniversary celebration. In November, 2006, Fieldgate was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

Post-football

Following his retirement from the BC Lions in 1967, Fieldgate started his own company, and worked for the BC Lions as president in 1989. He was active with Lions' alumni and charitable events in the greater

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fieldgate, Norm 1932 births 2020 deaths BC Lions players BC Lions team presidents Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football linebackers Canadian Junior Football League players Canadian football people from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian football defensive linemen