Rob Vanstone: Remembering Gabe Patterson, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first Black star
Patterson #Patterson
Gabe Patterson electrified a Taylor Field crowd on Sept. 27, 1947 by scoring the Regina Roughriders’ first touchdown — the result of a 60-yard pass-and-run play.
That was — get this — his third-longest gain of the day.
The Roughriders’ first Black star also erupted for runs of 73 and 62 yards during a 12-7 victory over the Calgary Stampeders in his first game before a Regina audience.
“Patterson’s debut was what the publicists would call colossal,” Dave Dryburgh wrote in the Regina Leader-Post .
Colossal, yes, but not surprising to anyone who had attended the Roughriders’ game in Calgary two weeks earlier.
Regina’s lone touchdown was scored when Patterson returned a kickoff 73 yards before pitching the ball to Roy Wright, who ran the remaining 26 yards.
“At a minimum, Patterson must have travelled an extra 55 yards in the broken field,” Dryburgh wrote.
“Every man on the Calgary side had a try at him and a few even touched him as the 3,000 fans in the stands rose to their feet to witness one of the greatest shows in football. Patterson missed on the convert try, but nobody cared, and they gave him an ovation that should still be ringing in his ears.”
Patterson went on to lead the 1947 Roughriders in points, with 36 (courtesy of three five-point touchdowns, three converts, five field goals and three singles) in eight games. He added two interceptions, tying him with Stan Stasica for the team lead.
In 1948, Patterson followed up with 31 points (two touchdowns, 14 converts, two field goals and two singles). With three interceptions, he tied Johnny Cook for tops on the newly dubbed Saskatchewan Roughriders .
All-star honours were automatic for the second successive season. Yet, after 1948, Patterson never played another game of Canadian professional football — his departure never satisfactorily explained.
In 1949, then-Roughriders head coach Fred Grant told the Leader-Post that he had to choose between Patterson and future Plaza of Honour inductee Del Wardien, the latter of whom was appraised by the field boss as “a better two-way player.”
But Patterson was a phenomenal three-way player, factoring in his contributions on special teams.
Were there other issues? Bob Calder and Garry Andrews, authors of a 1984 team history book known as Rider Pride, wrote that “some of the executive members were slow to accept integration.”
The team had not been integrated, period, until Robert Ellis (Stonewall) Jackson spent the 1930 season with the Roughriders.
Patterson arrived 17 years later, after being released by the Montreal Alouettes, and soon immersed himself in the community.
In addition to playing for the Roughriders, he volunteered to coach high school football at Balfour Tech as well as playing baseball locally.
He made numerous community appearances and, based on Leader-Post reports, was popular with teammates and fans.
Before joining the Roughriders for the 1947 and 1948 seasons, he also played Negro League baseball for the Philadelphia Stars.
Little is known about his life after football, except that he died on Oct. 26, 1991 in Pittsburgh, at age 72.
But, based on the information that does exist about Gabe Patterson’s time in Saskatchewan, it is clear that he was a foundational presence with the Roughriders — someone to celebrate during Black History Month, and at all times.
rvanstone@postmedia.com
twitter.com/robvanstone
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