Pittsburgh Steelers 43
Toronto Argonauts 16
Aug. 3, 1960
Before the game between the Steelers and Argonauts at the C.N.E. grounds
in Toronto, the press billed the match-up as a grudge game between the
quarterbacks, the Steelers’ Bobby Layne and the Argos’ Tobin Rote. It
was Rote who had taken Layne’s starting job at Detroit and relegated
Layne to a trade to the Steelers. Unfortunately for the promoters, Layne
and Rote expressed nothing but admiration for each other leading up to
game time. The two had been roommates back in their old Lions days.
Also, the press played up the fact that pass defender, Bob Dehlinger of
Toronto would be on the field having arrived in camp after a stint with
the US Army. Dehlinger had a huge interception for a touchdown in the
previous season against the Chicago Cardinals. The coaches for the game
were Lou Agase of Toronto and Buddy Parker of Pittsburgh.
Attendance for the game was 23,570 as the fascination for these
exhibition contests continued. The Argos opened with Rote driving them
to the Steelers 10 yard line where the drive stalled and rookie Bill
Mitchell kicked a field goal. Three plays later, Layne connected with receiver Preston Carpenter on a 59 yard touchdown strike. Pittsburgh’s
scoring barrage had begun. Tom Tracy ran around end for a 41 yard
touchdown and Layne connected with Buddy Dial on a TD pass and the score
was 20-3 at the end of the first period. In the second period the Argos
began to lose their poise. The Argos were stifled and punted on four
consecutive possessions. On two of the punts, Mann was able to get the ball to teammate Dick Shatto (In the CFL a punt or “onside kick” may be
recovered by any kicking team member, including the punter, who is
behind the ball at the time it is kicked. If they recover the ball their
team retains possession). However, two of Dave Mann’s four punts were
taken by the Steelers including the final shanked kick resulting in a
touchdown by Pittsburgh’s Junior Wren. A scary moment occurred in the
second period when Tobin Rote was injured. Fans feared that the star had
been lost for the season to an unnecessary exhibition game injury.
Fortunately, Rote was not seriously injured, but did not return to the
game. In the second period, Larry Krutko carried
the ball over from four yards out and Bert Rechichar connected on a 41
yard field goal to make the score 36-3 at the half.
With the game in hand, Layne took a seat on the bench in the second half
and Johnny Green, formerly of the Argos, took over quarterbacking duties
for Pittsburgh. The Argonauts did finally get some offense generated
when Tom Yewcic led them on a drive and Cookie Gilchrist belted over for
the score. The final score of the game occurred in the last minute as
Pittsburgh appeared to be driving for another score. But, Johnny Green’s
pass was picked off by John Wardlaw who returned it 107 yards for a
touchdown. The final score was 43-16.
Following the game, the local Toronto press questioned the rationale for
these match-ups as both of the Toronto games so far had been complete
mismatches. The Toronto Star called the game “sad”, “embarassing” and
“humiliating”. The Star wrote that Pittsburgh “was just too powerful for
the double blue to play. And, the score flattered the local heroes”. It
questioned the logic of continuing the contests in light of the serious
injuries that had occurred during the previous season’s game and in the
near disastrous injury to Rote.
Note: The game was televised over an experimental
network that charged $2.00 per TV set to view. It was the first pro game
ever played before a pay-TV audience, the advent of pay-per-view.
Regular Season:
Pittsburgh
was 5-6-1 and finished 5th in the Eastern Conference. The Steelers were
led by legendary quarterback Bobby Layne, receiver Buddy Dial and
running back Tom Tracy. From 1953-1965 has always been referred to as
the Dark Ages of the Toronto Argonauts. The Argos team had dominated Canadian football up until that time. During that thirteen
year period, they missed the playoffs 10 times. The 1960-62 seasons were
better for the Argos with future NFL stars Cookie Gilchrist and Tobin
Rote. In 1961, they finished in first place in the Eastern Division of
the CFL with a 10-4 record. The Argonauts lost to the Ottawa Rough
Riders in the playoffs. Dave Mann won the receiving title, Tobin Rote
the passing crown, and Cookie Gilchrist the scoring title with 115
points.
An amazing book by Argos historian, Craig Wallace
