By Bill Powers
Special to Stampeders.com
No one knows where he got the nickname, but “Thumper” was just perfect for Calgary Stampeders superstar middle linebacker Wayne Harris.
Because thump he did, and you need only to ask any of the running backs who played against him either as a Calgary Stampeder or in college as an Arkansas Razorback if you need additional evidence. He was one tough cookie and you might be amazed to know that he played at 185 pounds (190 at best) when others in the same position would tip the scales at 240 and more.
Wayne, who still lives in Calgary, arrived on the Stampeders scene in 1961 to begin an 12-year run during which he would make the all-Western team 11 straight times. Not only that, he was named to the all-Canadian team in eight of those seasons and four times would win the Most Outstanding Lineman award. The “Thumper” also won two nominations as the league’s Most Outstanding player.
A teammate for all 11 seasons was defensive back Larry Robinson — like Wayne a member of the Stampeder Wall of Fame — who says: “Wayne Harris was the best this league has ever seen. He was a much better tackler than the players of today because, to be honest, he never left his feet. He had amazing balance. He was a terror out there.”
Robbie said that he was such a competitor, the coaches wouldn’t let him practice because he could hurt some of his teammates.
Harris, who went into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and was Calgary’s Athlete of the Year in 1967, won his only Grey Cup in 1971 when the club beat Toronto 14-11 in Vancouver in a game in which he made five tackles, assisted on three, recovered a fumble and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
He started the 1972 season but was injured after one of his many vicious tackles. He hurt his neck and was given a warning by team doctors that if hit again in the same fashion, he could well be spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Now not many know this story but back then I was a hard-working sports reporter for radio station CKXL and with the Stamps on the road, I asked Wayne if he’d like to watch the game with me on television. He took that a step further and suggested we do it at his place, which is not far from McMahon Stadium and is still his home today.
Neither of us can remember who replaced him at linebacker that day but it was during the first half that an Ottawa Roughrider running back broke through the line and the collision that followed was brutal.
Right then and there Thumper said: “That’s it. My football career is over.”
And while many, like Robbie, feel Wayne Harris could still have had some gas in the tank they also agree that he made the right decision.
He was, as Robbie put it: “The best.”