| 1959 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (WIFU) | 
| 1st place • 12-4-0 .750 | 
| Head Coach: Bud Grant | 
| John Michels | Line | 
| Joe Zaleski | Backfield | 
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Tue | 8/4/1959 | A | Montreal Alouettes | 39-34 | W | Montreal, QC | McGill Stadium | 21739 | |
| Thu | 8/6/1959 | H | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 5-8 | L | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 18073 | |
| Thu | 8/13/1959 | A | British Columbia Lions | 42-20 | W | Vancouver, BC | Empire Stadium | 29425 | |
| Mon | 8/17/1959 | A | Calgary Stampeders | 22-21 | W | Calgary, AB | Mewata Stadium | 16200 | |
| Thu | 8/20/1959 | H | Calgary Stampeders | 21-23 | L | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 18333 | |
| Thu | 8/27/1959 | H | Edmonton Eskimos | 1-16 | L | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 18928 | |
| Sat | 8/29/1959 | A | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 61-8 | W | Regina, SK | Taylor Field | 12000 | |
| Thu | 9/3/1959 | H | British Columbia Lions | 34-23 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 18003 | |
| Sat | 9/5/1959 | A | Edmonton Eskimos | 16-8 | W | Edmonton, AB | Joseph A. Clarke Memorial Stadium | 17143 | |
| Sat | 9/12/1959 | H | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 41-14 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 15962 | |
| Sat | 9/19/1959 | A | British Columbia Lions | 6-17 | L | Vancouver, BC | Empire Stadium | 32061 | |
| Mon | 9/21/1959 | A | Calgary Stampeders | 15-10 | W | Calgary, AB | Mewata Stadium | 16000 | |
| Mon | 9/28/1959 | H | Edmonton Eskimos | 13-10 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 17707 | |
| Mon | 10/5/1959 | H | Calgary Stampeders | 38-24 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 15813 | |
| Mon | 10/12/1959 | A | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 27-14 | W | Regina, SK | Taylor Field | 8000 | |
| Sat | 10/17/1959 | H | British Columbia Lions | 31-6 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 18184 | |
| Mon | 10/19/1959 | A | Edmonton Eskimos | 20-21 | L | Edmonton, AB | Joseph A. Clarke Memorial Stadium | 15500 | |
| Mon | 10/26/1959 | H | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 30-37 | L | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 14279 | |
| WIFU Final #1 | |||||||||
| Wed | 11/11/1959 | A | Edmonton Eskimos | 19-11 | W | Edmonton, AB | Joseph A. Clarke Memorial Stadium | 16000 | |
| WIFU Final #2 | |||||||||
| Sat | 11/14/1959 | H | Edmonton Eskimos | 16-8 | W | Winnipeg, MB | Winnipeg Stadium | 15872 | |
| Grey Cup | |||||||||
| Sat | 11/28/1959 | N | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 21-7 | W | Toronto, ON | Exhibition Stadium | 33133 | |
| Schedule Notes | ||
|---|---|---|
| 10/26/1959 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Forfeit by Saskatchewan | 
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS | 
| Buddy Alliston | 50 | OG-LB | 6-0 | 218 | 26 | Mississippi | 1 | |
| Ralph Anderson | 79 | OE | 6-4 | 223 | 24 | Santa Monica JC; Los Angeles State | 1 | |
| Walt Bilicki | 47 | C-LILB | 5-10 | 205 | 23 | Manitoba | 15 | |
| Ken Bochen | 54 | OT-DT | 6-3 | 235 | 21 | none | 2 | |
| Jack Bruzell | 48 | C-LB | 6-3 | 230 | 21 | none | 7 | |
| Dave Burkholder | 52 | OT-RILB | 6-1 | 225 | 23 | Minnesota | 16 | |
| Fred Cole | 61 | OT-DT | 5-11 | 226 | 22 | Maryland | 5 | |
| Burr Davis | 45 | C-LB | 6-0 | 222 | 22 | Houston | 1 | |
| Jack Delveaux | 23 | FB-ROLB | 6-1 | 215 | 22 | Illinois | 5 | |
| George Druxman | 43 | C-LB | 6-1 | 220 | 30 | Portland | 16 | |
| Farrell Funston | 71 | OE-DB | 6-2 | 217 | 23 | Sacramento CC; Pacific | 3 | |
| Frank Gilliam | 74 | OE-DE | 6-2 | 190 | 25 | Iowa | 2 | |
| Herb Gray | 53 | RDE-OG | 6-1 | 218 | 25 | Texas | 16 | |
| Bob Hantla | 68 | OT-DG-DT | 6-1 | 220 | 28 | Kansas | 1 | |
| Gerry James | 28 | FB | 5-10 | 187 | 25 | none | 10 | |
| Henry Janzen | 12 | OE-RDH | 5-10 | 185 | 19 | none | 16 | |
| Tony Kehrer | 20 | FB-LB | 5-8 | 190 | 22 | none | 12 | |
| Dave Kocourek | 72 | OE-DE | 6-5 | 237 | 22 | Wisconsin | 8 | |
| Ed Kotowich | 56 | OG | 5-9 | 225 | 25 | none | 16 | |
| Ron Latourelle | 17 | OHB-LB | 5-8 | 175 | 25 | none | 15 | |
| Leo Lewis | 29 | OHB-DB | 5-10 | 195 | 26 | Lincoln (Missouri) | 16 | |
| Cec Luining | 73 | C-LDE | 6-1 | 210 | 28 | none | 14 | |
| Ron Meadmore | 78 | OG-LDE | 6-2 | 200 | 26 | none | 9 | |
| Ted Mikliechuk | 55 | OG-LB | 5-10 | 207 | 24 | none | 1 | |
| Nick Miller | 24 | FB-DB | 6-1 | 192 | 28 | none | 7 | |
| Steve Patrick | 63 | MG-OT | 6-0 | 230 | 27 | none | 15 | |
| Cornel Piper | 58 | OG-MG-RDT | 6-1 | 235 | 22 | none | 16 | |
| Ernie Pitts | 77 | OE-S | 6-1 | 192 | 24 | Denver | 16 | |
| Kenny Ploen | 11 | QB-S | 6-1 | 185 | 24 | Iowa | 16 | |
| Rick Potter | 14 | FB-LOLB | 6-0 | 197 | 21 | none | 10 | |
| Norm Rauhaus | 70 | OE-RDH | 6-1 | 195 | 24 | none | 14 | |
| Frank Rigney | 67 | OT-LDT | 6-4 | 233 | 23 | Iowa | 15 | |
| Rae Ross | 79 | OE-LDH | 6-1 | 185 | 28 | British Columbia | 15 | |
| Gord Rowland | 27 | OHB-LOLB-S | 5-9 | 172 | 29 | 13 | ||
| Roger Savoie | 62 | OT-RDT | 6-0 | 240 | 28 | none | 16 | |
| Carver Shannon | 22 | OHB-LDH | 6-1 | 201 | 21 | Southern Illinois | 14 | |
| Charlie Shepard | 21 | FB-LB | 6-2 | 215 | 26 | North Texas | 15 | |
| Buddy Tinsley | 64 | OT-LDT | 6-2 | 245 | 35 | Baylor | 15 | |
| Jim Van Pelt | 10 | QB-S | 5-11 | 183 | 24 | Michigan | 15 | |
| John Varone | 15 | FB-LB | 5-11 | 194 | 23 | Miami (Florida) | 10 | |
| Garland Warren | 44 | LILB-OT-C | 6-1 | 225 | 24 | North Texas | 15 | |
| Keith Webster | 19/27 | OHB-DB | 5-7 | 170 | 22 | none | 2 | |
| Gene Wlasiuk | 25 | OHB-DB | 5-9 | 165 | 23 | none | 1 | |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College | 
| 1 | 9 | Duncan Brodie | HB | Toronto | 
| 2 | 18 | Morgan Drever | G | Toronto | 
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 121 | 149 | 44 | 104 | 418 | 
| Opponents Totals | 81 | 61 | 68 | 62 | 272 | 
| TEAM STATS | TOP | First Downs | Rush | Pass | Pen | 2nd Down Efficiency | 3rd Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 340 | 162 | 167 | 11 | 69 | 615 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 280 | 
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | S | SAF | PTS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernie Pitts | 16 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | ||
| Jim Van Pelt | 3 | 34 | 46 | 73.9 | - | - | - | 8 | 15 | 53.3 | 2 | 0 | 78 | 
| Leo Lewis | 9 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Charlie Shepard | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 49 | ||
| Gerry James | 6 | 4 | 5 | 80.0 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 
| Frank Gilliam | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Ron Latourelle | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Tony Kehrer | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Gord Rowland | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Carver Shannon | 7 | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | |
| Farrell Funston | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Henry Janzen | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 57 | 40 | 57 | 70.2 | 9 | 16 | 56.3 | 9 | 0 | 418 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 28 | 34 | 82.4 | 11 | 16 | 68.8 | 5 | 1 | 272 | 
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Shepard | 174 | 1076 | 6.2 | 45 | 6 | 
| Leo Lewis | 112 | 730 | 6.5 | 37 | 2 | 
| Carver Shannon | 88 | 512 | 5.8 | 53 | 1 | 
| Gerry James | 49 | 261 | 5.3 | 44 | 6 | 
| Tony Kehrer | 49 | 230 | 4.7 | 17 | 1 | 
| Jim Van Pelt | 46 | 98 | 2.1 | 18 | 3 | 
| Kenny Ploen | 14 | 83 | 5.9 | 15 | 0 | 
| Henry Janzen | 7 | 56 | 8.0 | 23 | 0 | 
| Ron Latourelle | 9 | 40 | 4.4 | 15 | 0 | 
| Keith Webster | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 23 | 0 | 
| Rick Potter | 6 | 12 | 2.0 | 5 | 0 | 
| Jack Delveaux | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 | 
| Gord Rowland | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | 
| John Varone | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 8 | 0 | 
| Ernie Pitts | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 
| Team Totals | 575 | 3157 | 5.5 | 19 | |
| Opponents Totals | 579 | 2711 | 4.7 | 16 | 
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Van Pelt | 300 | 160 | 53.3 | 125 | 2706 | 9.0 | 16.9 | 90 | 31 | 10.3 | 15 | 5.0 | 112 | 2594 | 97.7 | |
| Kenny Ploen | 56 | 30 | 53.6 | 22 | 467 | 8.3 | 15.6 | 65 | 3 | 5.4 | 4 | 7.1 | 5 | 462 | 69.6 | |
| Leo Lewis | 17 | 7 | 41.2 | 8 | 109 | 6.4 | 15.6 | 36 | 2 | 11.8 | 2 | 11.8 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 62.7 | 
| Charlie Shepard | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 374 | 197 | 52.7 | 155 | 3282 | 8.8 | 16.7 | 36 | 9.6 | 22 | 5.9 | 90.1 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 344 | 180 | 52.3 | 135 | 2561 | 7.4 | 14.2 | 16 | 4.7 | 29 | 8.4 | 57.1 | 
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernie Pitts | 68 | 1126 | 16.6 | 65 | 16 | 
| Leo Lewis | 43 | 695 | 16.2 | 50 | 7 | 
| Charlie Shepard | 6 | 150 | 25.0 | 36 | 1 | 
| Norm Rauhaus | 6 | 77 | 12.8 | 21 | 0 | 
| Ron Latourelle | 3 | 60 | 20.0 | 25 | 1 | 
| Frank Rigney | 3 | 44 | 14.7 | 16 | 0 | 
| Ralph Anderson | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 18 | 0 | 
| Frank Gilliam | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 14 | 2 | 
| Gerry James | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 15 | 0 | 
| Tony Kehrer | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 10 | 0 | 
| Jim Van Pelt | 1 | 36 | 36.0 | 36 | 0 | 
| John Varone | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | -2 | 0 | 
| Carver Shannon | 31 | 517 | 16.7 | 90 | 6 | 
| Farrell Funston | 12 | 284 | 23.7 | 50 | 2 | 
| Dave Kocourek | 8 | 112 | 14.0 | 19 | 0 | 
| Henry Janzen | 6 | 90 | 15.0 | 27 | 1 | 
| Team Totals | 197 | 3282 | 16.7 | 36 | |
| Opponents Totals | 180 | 2561 | 14.2 | 16 | 
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenny Ploen | 10 | 104 | 10.4 | 43 | 0 | 
| Rae Ross | 7 | 64 | 9.1 | 21 | 0 | 
| Gord Rowland | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 40 | 1 | 
| Garland Warren | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 15 | 0 | 
| John Varone | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 24 | 0 | 
| Nick Miller | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | 
| Walt Bilicki | 1 | 0 | |||
| Jack Delveaux | 1 | 0 | |||
| Norm Rauhaus | 1 | 0 | |||
| Team Totals | 29 | 287 | 9.9 | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 22 | 196 | 8.9 | 0 | 
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | S | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Shepard | 121 | 5224 | 43.2 | 61 | 7 | |
| Jim Van Pelt | 14 | 538 | 38.4 | 50 | 0 | |
| Ron Latourelle | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 
| Team Totals | 136 | 5785 | 42.5 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Janzen | 67 | 499 | 7.4 | 25 | 0 | 
| Ron Latourelle | 46 | 191 | 4.2 | 15 | 0 | 
| Kenny Ploen | 9 | 61 | 6.8 | 32 | 0 | 
| Rae Ross | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 8 | 0 | 
| Tony Kehrer | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 | 
| Keith Webster | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 5 | 0 | 
| Gord Rowland | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 7 | 0 | 
| Norm Rauhaus | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 
| Roger Savoie | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 
| Team Totals | 134 | 799 | 6.0 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 136 | 1001 | 7.4 | 0 | 
| KICKOFFS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | S | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerry James | 40 | 2258 | 56.5 | 85 | 0 | 
| Jim Van Pelt | 30 | 1534 | 51.1 | 64 | 0 | 
| Team Totals | 70 | 3792 | 54.2 | ||
| Opponents Totals | 
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leo Lewis | 15 | 397 | 26.5 | 65 | 0 | 
| Carver Shannon | 14 | 355 | 25.4 | 46 | 0 | 
| Ernie Pitts | 8 | 164 | 20.5 | 28 | 0 | 
| Kenny Ploen | 3 | 71 | 23.7 | 25 | 0 | 
| Jack Delveaux | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 23 | 0 | 
| Tony Kehrer | 4 | 40 | 10.0 | 19 | 0 | 
| Charlie Shepard | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 23 | 0 | 
| Henry Janzen | 1 | 28 | 28.0 | 28 | 0 | 
| Gerry James | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | 
| Rick Potter | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | 
| John Varone | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 
| Team Totals | 53 | 1166 | 22.0 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 70 | 1630 | 23.3 | 1 | 
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Burkholder | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jack Delveaux | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Herb Gray | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Tony Kehrer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Ron Latourelle | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Nick Miller | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Kenny Ploen | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Norm Rauhaus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Roger Savoie | 1 | 1 | 29 | 0 | |||
| Buddy Tinsley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| John Varone | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Garland Warren | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Team Totals | 25 | 16 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 40 | 1 | 
| Opponents Totals | 19 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 
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| Last Updated: August 29, 2025 |