September 13, 2013: Roughriders great dead at 85

The late Frank Tripucka passed through Regina long before he passed a football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The year was 1949. Tripucka, who had just graduated from the University of Notre Dame after starring at quarterback for the Fighting Irish, was heading to Lake Louise for his honeymoon in the company of his wife, Randy.

“We were going through this town and I had a breakdown in my car,” Tripucka, who died of congestive heart failure on Thursday in Woodland Park, N.J., at age 85, recalled in 2007 during an interview with the Leader-Post. “They got a mechanic and I fixed it and I went on my way.

“I never thought any more about Regina until four years later, when Randy and I are getting off the plane, and I said, ‘Does this look familiar to you?’ We’re going to the hotel and I said, ‘Does this look familiar to you?’ She said, ‘Yeah, we were here four years ago.’ “That’s God’s honest truth. Who the hell ever knew we were going back there?” When Tripucka stayed around Regina for a longer period, he left an enduring impression – completing 1,101 of 1,758 pass attempts for 14,387 yards and 83 touchdowns. He is fourth on the Roughriders’ all-time list in all four categories.

“The people (in Saskatchewan) were very, very nice,” Tripucka recalled.

“No matter where you went, they welcomed you. There were no nightclubs. People would invite you to their house after the game. They’d say, ‘Come on over to the house and have a drink,’ and they’d have a little party. They were very, very pleasant people.” Tripucka was the Roughriders’ starting quarterback for the better part of a six-season span that began in 1953. He was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders before the 1959 season, but soon returned as Saskatchewan’s head coach after George Terlep was fired due to an 0-9 start. Due to a shortage of quarterbacks, “The Tripper” eventually returned to active duty in 1959.

The next year, Tripucka became an original member of the fledgling Denver Broncos of the American Football League. He was so successful with the Broncos that he became a member of the team’s Ring of Fame. In addition, his uniform number (18) was retired. Even so, he graciously allowed Peyton Manning to wear that number after the future Hall of Fame quarterback joined the Broncos in 2012.

Tripucka led the AFL in passing yards in 1960 and 1962, but was deemed to be expendable by the Broncos after the latter season. He ended up back in Regina, becoming part of a quarter backing equation that also included Ron Lancaster, M.C. Reynolds, Bob Ptacek and Lee Grosscup.

At 35, Tripucka saw some duty as the Roughriders’ starter in 1963 before Lancaster – who had been acquired from Ottawa after the pre-season – took over the No. 1 job for good. Lancaster went on to break many of the Roughriders’ passing records that Tripucka had established.

Tripucka joined the Roughriders’ Plaza of Honor in 1989.

His son, fellow Notre Dame alumnus Kelly Tripucka, played in the NBA for 11 seasons.

rvanstone@leaderpost.com