Robert Molle (born September 23, 1962) is a Canadian former

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

and professional

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) player.

Career

After finishing high school in his hometown of

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Molle attended

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...

. At and , he joined both the wrestling team and the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

at SFU, and quickly became a standout in both sports. He was selected to represent Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics, but suffered a back injury shortly before the tournament that nearly ended his career. Nonetheless, only 18 days after surgery, Molle won a silver medal for Canada as a Super Heavyweight wrestler at the

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. American wrestler

Bruce Baumgartner Bruce Robert Baumgartner (born November 2, 1960) is an American former freestyle wrestler. He is the current assistant vice president for university advancement and former athletic director at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania near Erie, P ...

defeated Molle to win the gold medal. He was drafted by 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 ...

with the ninth overall pick of the 1985 CFL Draft. On November 27, 1988, he hoisted a

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 ...

as a member of the Blue Bombers' offensive line. He won another Grey Cup in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and eventually became a captain of the Blue Bombers. On September 25, 2016, he was inducted into the Blue Bombers Hall of Fame. Bob is also a member of the Simon Fraser University Hall of Fame (1990), the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Hall of Fame (1991), the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame (1992), the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame (1993) and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1995).

References

External links

Athlete biography
at Canadian Olympic Committee
Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molle, Robert Living people 1962 births Canadian football people from Saskatoon Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Canadian football offensive linemen Simon Fraser Red Leafs football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Olympic wrestlers for Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Wrestlers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Canadian male sport wrestlers Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists in wrestling Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Wrestlers at the 1983 Pan American Games Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's wrestlers Simon Fraser University alumni Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian sportsmen