Emilio Fraietta

Defensive Back

1979 - 1984

by Lee Nohos

When it comes to camaraderie, no team in history has been so well known for their closeness than the Edmonton Eskimo dynasty teams of the late seventies and early eighties. This month I had the opportunity to meet one of the players from that era as I sat with Emilio Fraietta and talked about his time with the Green and Gold.

Fraietta was born in Italy and at the tender age of 12 he and his family packed their bags and headed for Canada. After landing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, they boarded a train for Edmonton where he and his family would get there first glimpse of the anomaly we call snow. It was a huge culture shock but as most kids do, Fraietta rolled with the punches and started a new life for himself in a strange country.

  One of the common things between the two countries was sports and after playing high school football, Fraietta joined the Edmonton Wildcats where he would spend three years, gaining a national title along the way in 1977. After finishing his junior career, he would move on to college in California for one year before moving home to Edmonton where he attended the training camp of the Edmonton Eskimos, a team he followed closely as a teenager. We started there when talking about his career.

  “I was a huge fan of the Eskimos growing up and I used to sneak into Clarke Stadium to watch them,” he smiled as we sat at a table of the Gourmet Cup, a business he runs with his sister, Cathy, in Edmonton Centre. “I think every kid aspires to play professional sports one day but it wasn’t something I thought would ever happen to me.”

  Fraietta made the team as a rookie in 1979, joining a squad that was in the midst of steam-rolling the rest of the teams in the CFL. He was a versatile player having played both offense and defense during his junior and college career but when he joined the Eskimos he was used designated as a defensive back and as a special teams player. Although it’s over 20 years since his first training camp, he remembers it vividly and shared the experience.

  “There was so much to learn The professional game is leaps and bounds from junior and of course the physical aspect was a lot different. After the third day of ‘two-a-days’ I couldn’t even sit down on a chair without pain,” he laughs.

  Despite the fact the Eskimos had appeared in three of the last four Grey Cup games, winning two, head coach Hugh Campbell brought in some new blood in 1979 that included Fraietta, Marco Cyncar, Mark Cofflin and Leo Blanchard. For Fraietta, it was a dream come true and in his first season he would be the recipient of his first Grey Cup ring that he still wears proudly today. However, as a rookie, he wasn’t the most well known player on the squad and in fact, he almost wasn’t allowed into the celebration party back in Edmonton and he laughs when he recants the story.

  “It was funny,” he smiles, “because when I arrived at a party back in Edmonton after winning our first Grey Cup Qunicey Moffatt wasn’t going to let me, Marco (Cyncar) or Dave Zaharko in because he didn’t know who we were. He had to call Hugh over to confirm that we were on the team.”

  Over the course of the next three years, Fraietta would add three more Grey Cup rings to his collection and was a part of the greatest dynasty in the history of the CFL. Those teams had scores of all-stars that would eventually end up in the Hall of Fame but as has been shared with me many times, no one carried an attitude or thought of themselves as a superstar. Every player on the team was treated with the same respect and Fraietta says that was one of the most enjoyable parts of being an Eskimo.

  “It was a great group of guys and we were always playing around like kids in a playground,” he says. “Everyone got along so well together on and off the field and there wasn’t a single guy in the locker room who considered himself to be a superstar.

  “We’d get together for Grande nights (the old Grande Hotel) and everyone had to be there. It was a big part of the reason we stuck together on the field in crucial situations as well.”

  After the 1984 season, Fraietta’s career came to an end despite the fact he was still a relatively young man. He readily admits that it was a terrible blow but he also understood the realities of pro sports.

  He took on a job with the City of Edmonton for five years before starting up his own construction company in the city. After another five years, he was on the move again, this time to open up the Gourmet Cup in Edmonton Centre. The Italian style coffee shop is a hub of activity every day and more than anything, he enjoys the opportunity to meet new people and share a laugh or two. It’s something he greatly enjoys and a job that fits in perfectly with his philosophy on life.

  “I’ve already told my kids not to expect a big inheritance from me because I’m going to spend it,” he laughs. “People in North America are a lot different than they are in Italy where the most important thing is to enjoy life. Here, it seems like everyone gets so involved in working that they forget to have fun. I live to socialize and I do my best to make every day a good day.”

  Part of those days include spending as much time as possible with his son, Damon, and his daughter, Eden who are both athletically inclined like their Dad. Fraietta has been actively involved in coaching over the years including coaching his son in high school football with O’Leary and he beams like a kid at Christmas looking at presents under the tree when he talks about his pride and joy.

  While he would have liked to squeeze another couple of years out of his playing career, Fraietta has nothing but fond memories of his playing days with the Eskimos and his refreshing attitude about life is something that many of us can learn much from.