Garner Ekstran, a 1990 inductee into the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour, passed away of natural causes on Saturday in Sedro-Woolley, Wash. He was 86.
A three-time All-CFL selection, he was a key member of the first Grey Cup championship team in Roughriders history.
Ekstran, middle linebacker Wally Dempsey (a fellow Washington State University alumnus) and defensive back Bob Kosid were tied for the team lead in defensive tackles (six) when Saskatchewan defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 on Nov. 26, 1966.
Ekstran was among four Washington State graduates who played instrumental roles in the 1966 Grey Cup win. Dempsey, fullback George Reed and receiver Hugh Campbell were also part of the WSU connection.
“Garner was a lifelong Coug and Rider,” said Ekstran’s grandson, Iver Light. “He loved to tell amazing stories of his playing days and of all the people who made Saskatchewan a special place.
“The Roughrider organization meant a lot to Garner and especially his wife Marge, who built strong friendships in the players’ wives circle.”
A Washington State tie was Ekstran’s ticket to Saskatchewan.
College teammate Ron Green, a two-way lineman with the Cougars, signed with Saskatchewan on Jan. 20, 1961. Shortly thereafter, Green asked Ekstran what he had planned for the 1961 football season.
“I gave him a couple of ideas and he said, ‘Why don’t you go to Saskatchewan with me? We’ll play one year and then leave. We’ll go back to the NFL,’ ’’ Ekstran said in 2006. “It sounded like a good deal.”
Ekstran signed with the Roughriders on March 10, 1961, beginning a seven-season stay in Saskatchewan.
“I would have paid to play,” he said. “It was just a great environment. I loved it — and I don’t know of anybody who didn’t. It was just a great bunch of guys. We had fun and when it was time to play the game, we played.”
As a rookie in 1961, he was named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Lineman. He also received that honour in 1963.
He earned All-CFL recognition in 1962, 1963 and 1967. As well, he made the Western Conference’s dream team in 1966.
Ekstran’s listed weight (225 pounds) was often an exaggeration. But heart, desire and ability more than compensated for a lack of size, relative to the giants who lined up opposite him.
“From the time that I was eight or 10 years old, I told everybody whether they asked or not that I was going to play pro ball,” the 6-foot-0 Ekstran said. “They all laughed at me, of course. I went into high school in the ninth grade at 5-foot-4 and 95 pounds. But I wore a Size 12 shoe, so I knew I was going to grow into something.”
A Roughriders legend, in fact.
“Garner Ekstran was only about 210 or 215,” linebacker Wayne Shaw recalled. “If he wasn’t down real low, he had no hope, but he was strong like a bull.
“It’s just the way it was from working on the farm.”
Ekstran’s teammates were well aware of the agricultural background.
“Everybody’s sitting around upstairs at the exhibition grounds and in comes Garner,” said 1992 Plaza of Honour inductee Alan Ford, flashing back to 1965 and his first CFL training camp. “A lot of the veterans are there, and they start making sounds like a cow.
“I knew that this guy had a lot of respect from everybody in the room. When he walked in, it was, ‘Moo!’ He’d show up on the road, walking through the airport, and invariably someone would go, ‘Moo!’ And you just knew Garner was there.”
His presence was even more notable on the field.
“Garner’s trademark was his clothesline,” Ford said. “He and (Canadian Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman) Bill Baker probably had the two best clotheslines that I’ve ever experienced.
“Garner did that to me about three days into my rookie training camp. I’m a running back coming out of the backfield and thinking, ‘This is easy. I’m going to run a 10-yard out.’ I got about six yards and, all of a sudden, I’m on my back. I’d never experienced that before. I knew I had to get up and get back to the huddle because you didn’t want to be hurt with an Eagle Keys team.
“The next time I came out and (Ekstran) said, ‘Hey, rookie, you take a pretty good clothesline,’ then I knew that maybe I was OK with the veterans.
“I’m sure I left teeth-prints on his forearm. Mine were a long list of teeth that hit his forearm.”
Ford was among four Roughriders players who scored a touchdown in the 1966 Grey Cup Game. Campbell and Reed accounted for the Washington State presence in the end zone at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium.
Ron Lancaster’s five-yard touchdown pass to Campbell proved to be the game-winner. Campbell snapped a 14-14 tie on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Ekstran set the table. Ottawa was backed up to its three-yard line when he felled running back Jim Dillard for a loss of one on first down. Two plays later, Bill Cline punted from his team’s end zone. A 10-yard punt return by Gene Wlasiuk gave Saskatchewan a first down on Ottawa’s 32-yard line.
Three runs by Reed, an offside penalty against Ottawa, and a 10-yard completion to Campbell preceded Gluey Hughie’s go-ahead TD.
The next season, Ekstran moved to outside linebacker and earned All-CFL recognition for the third time. His array of skills was such that he also saw some duty at tight end, catching five passes for 75 yards over his career.
Regardless of the position or the assignment, the mindset was the same: “Beat the guy across from you until he doesn’t want to hit you anymore.”
Intense and indestructible, Ekstran played in 110 of a possible 112 regular-season games as a Roughrider. He also appeared in 16 post-season contests, including the Grey Cups of 1966 and 1967.
“After his time in Regina, he came back home to Bow, Washington, where he was a dairyman,” Light said. “Both his community and job were core parts of his identity. He was surrounded by his family and friends until the very end.”
Garner and Marge Ekstran were married 62 years. Born just two days after Garner in June of 1939, Marge passed away on Dec. 28, 2023.
The Ekstrans are survived by three children (Kristen, Kara and Keith) and two grandchildren (Iver and Elsie Light). Garner is also survived by his sister (Diane Lind).
