Biography

When you're good, you earn your way onto all-star teams. When you're great, the media bestows upon you a catchy nickname. But when you're Fritz Hanson, blessed with speed and guile, and known variously as "Twinkle Toes," the "Golden Ghost," and the "Perham Flash," you're a hall of famer. Hanson was a standout high school football player, he once scored eleven touchdowns in a single game, and a star at North Dakota State College. Lured north in 1935 to join the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club, which was soon to become the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it was in Canadian football that Hanson became a star. He made his mark almost immediately, displaying the blazing speed and elusive running style that earned him many honours and almost as many nicknames. Hanson's most indelible achievement occurred at the end of his first season in Canada. In the 1935 Grey Cup game, he set a record which still stands today by accumulating more than 300 punt return yards, including a 78-yard punt return for the game-winning touchdown. His contributions led Winnipeg to an 18-12 victory over Hamilton, the first-ever Grey Cup triumph by a team from Western Canada. In all, Hanson would play in eight Grey Cup games, winning twice more with Winnipeg, in 1939 and 1941. During the war, he played locally with the Winnipeg Light Infantry before finishing his career in Calgary. He capped his career with a victory in the 1948 Grey Cup game. Hanson was named the all-star halfback in the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) five times during his career, and in 1938 he led the WIFU in scoring, for which he was awarded the Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy. For his electrifying style and his consistent performance over a decade in the WIFU, Hanson was named an inaugural inductee to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963.