RON FORWICK
The Edmonton kid who made good
By Terry Jones EDMONTON SUN SPORTS COLUMNIST

Ron Forwick was more than an Eskimo great. For years he was a symbol to young Edmonton football players that you could make it.

Forwick, who died at age 57, losing a year and a half battle to cancer, may not have had everlasting Eskimo fame like Jackie Parker, Johnny Bright, Normie Kwong and Rollie Miles, but on the 40th anniversary of the franchise, he was voted No.18 on the list of all time great Eskimo players.

On that occasion I talked to him about leaving work at the Swifts packing plant to go into the Eskimos office back in 1965.

"I can remember going in to Joe Ryan's office," he said of the general manager of the day.

"To this day, l don't know what I signed. I would have signed anything as long as it said I was an Edmonton Eskimo."
 



 

 

Ron Forwick was a kid out of junior football who went on to become a CFL All-Star.

"To be honest, looking back" he said "back then, I can't believe I became as good of a football player as I became. l was a young Canadian kid who didn't know anything about weight training or anything. "

"I was very lucky I came in 1965 and Roger Nelson and E.A. Sims were there. They were good guys to learn from."

"I'm very happy with what I accomplished. I wish I'd played on a Grey Cup winning team. But at least, at the end of my career, in 1973 and 1974, I got into the Grey Cup game."

Forwick played for the most unsuccessful run of Eskimo teams ever, but at the same time for one of the best CFL defenses ever assembled.

"We had so many quarterbacks we couldn't remember their names," Forwick said in that interview. "We were in every game until the offense gave the ball away one too many times. One year we were the top defense in the league and didn't make the playoffs "

Forwick was a defensive end for the Edmonton Huskies when they won three Little Grey Cups in a row from 1962 to 1964.

Forwick was the centre of an unheard of trade between the Edmonton Wildcats and their crosstown rivals back in 1962.

The 'Cats gave up Forwick for quarterback Lance Richards and two territorial draft picks who turned out be Al Gordichuk and Don Burdego. Forwick was the only one to go on to turn pro.

The 6'3" 260-pounder played a decade with the Eskimos after that before being traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he finished out his 12year career. Forwick stayed close to the sports community over the years. His son Shane played football for the University of Alberta Golden Bears

At half-time of the Eskimo-B.C. Lions game last year, Forwick was presented with an Eskimo alumni ring by former team-mate John Farlinger. The ring was designed by another former team-mate Charlie Turner

An example of his popularity with his former teammates and with the Edmonton citizenry at large came when Forwick refused to put his family in debt to take a cancer treatment in Houston, Texas. 144 friends of Ron Forwick were instantly rounded up to play in a golf tournament with an entry fee of $200 to cover the costs of the treatment.

"I've know all my life how lucky I've been to have such a wonderful family and  friends," an emotional Forwick told the gathering. "I didn't realize until tonight that I had so many."

Survived by his wife Gale, son Shane and daughters Rhonda and Sherie, Ron Forwick will be missed not just by the Eskimo family but by the community at large.

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