Speedy Ottawa Rough Riders great Whit Tucker dead at 83

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As a football player, Whitman (Whit) Tucker was in the fast lane.

Like, he was really fast.

Ask people who watched Tucker play and they mention his speed, the way he sprinted down the field leaving defenders scrambling to cover him. He was a helluva football player.

Ask those who knew him well, they also talk about his post-Canadian Football League success in the investment business. And, they also mention his family, those around him he cared so much about.

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Tucker was quite good at catching a football, he could do magical things with it in his hands. CFL defenders had their hands full when they tried to bring down the longtime Ottawa Rough Riders receiver, who averaged an incredible 22.4 yards per reception — a CFL record — over his terrific career.

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On Wednesday, Tucker died at age 83.

“I was in my teens when he was playing,” said former Rough Riders receiver Jeff Avery, the CFL Ottawa Alumni Association president. “Occasionally, I’d get to go to (Rough Riders) games. Whit had speed, lots of it, he could really run by people.”

Twice a CFL all-star, Tucker played on three Grey Cup finalists (winning back-to-back in 1968 and 1969) during a nine-year career in which he caught 272 passes for 6,092 yards and 52 touchdowns. 

In the 1966 Grey Cup, Tucker had two touchdown receptions (of 61 and 85 yards), with four receptions for 173 yards. It might have been the best game he played as a Rough Rider, but it sometimes get lost because Ottawa fell 29-14 to Saskatchewan.

“It was a pretty spectacular performance,” former Rough Riders teammate Jim Cain said. “Him and (quarterback) Russ (Jackson) were an explosive combination that could always beat you deep.”

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For many years, Tucker worked as a very successful investment executive.

It wasn’t like Tucker was a one-trick pony when it came to sports. He was all-city in football and basketball, and received the Royal Arcanum trophy as Windsor’s outstanding high school athlete in 1959. At the University of Western, Tucker was named a senior intercollegiate all-star halfback and was his team’s Most Valuable Player in 1961.

“They talk about him being the greatest track athlete of his generation in Windsor,” Cain said. “He had a track scholarship offer at USC. A kid from Windsor in the late 1950s getting a scholarship offer from USC is amazing.”

As a Rough Rider, he was named rookie of the year in 1962.

“That first year, he played mostly defence,” said Cain, who played both offensive and defensive line for the Rough Riders. “He caught three passes, but he returned a lot of punts, a typical thing they did with Canadians back then — they put them in as punt returners.”

In 1967, Tucker had four straight games of more than 100 yards in receptions and he had 1,171 total yards that season.

“He had outstanding speed, breakaway speed all the time,” Cain said. “Russ could always throw the long ball. And, with another great receiver, Margene Adkins, they just terrorized defences.

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“(Tucker) had great hands, great speed and decent size, you couldn’t ask for a much better combination.”

“Saddened to learn of his passing,” award-winning broadcaster Chris Cuthbert wrote on X. “Whit was one of my first sports heroes. He had a unique running style that I tried to copy as a kid. Unfortunately, it never made me fast like him.”

Tucker and the longtime love of his life, his wife Heather (who died on New Year’s Day in 2019), had four children — Ken, Kelly, Diane and Wendy. 

Family was always important to him as he moved past his football-playing days. Whit and Heather were always welcoming to visitors and hosted some memorable parties.

“I remember the 1968-69 reunion (in 2018) in Otto’s (at TD Place),” said Cain, who had a big hand in organizing the event. “There were three generations of Tuckers wearing jerseys, No. 26. I can picture them sitting there. It was a great occasion for Whit and for his family.”

It has been a difficult past few years for Cain. Too many former teammates are gone. It always triggers good memories, but there’s also the other side of it.

“It comes back to me, I think about it,” Cain said. “As you get older, the fond memories come back. When you lose somebody, it can be a two-sided thing. You think about all the great guys, the great teammates that have passed. You think about the good things, but there’s also, ‘Oh, s***, he’s gone, that’s really too bad.’”

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