“Henry Singer outitted the whole team with coats and hats for our trip to the Grey Cup, and when we returned, after losing the game, all of us dressed in those coats and hats.” he Eskimos wouldn’t win it. Ater a 9–6 season, they lost the game 21–11. But they got a rousing return in Edmonton, regardless. “It was unbelievable,” remembers Arnold. “hey just went wild in Edmonton. I couldn’t believe it. here were fewer than 200,000 people in Edmonton then. I couldn’t believe the diference 50 years later. But to this day, I believe that’s when Edmonton became a football town. It was such a big deal to go to the Grey Cup.” Ted Tully, who would return to win three and play in the 1960 game as well, agreed. “Henry Singer outitted the whole team with coats and hats for our trip to the Grey Cup, and when we returned, ater losing the game, all of us dressed in those coats and hats ... I’d never seen anything like it in my life. here were so many people. It was like we’d won. It was quite an experience for a 22-year-old.” Quarterback Claude Arnold was a major acquisition for the Eskimos that year. He was 27 when he came out of college, having missed three years of football while in military service during World War II. “I really wasn’t planning on playing pro, but Edmonton management brought me in and gave me the best contract in Pop Ivy coached at his alma mater for Oklahoma Sooners from 1948 to 1954, then he became head coach for the Esks. Regardless of where they played, the Esks always had a full house. the league, mostly because I wasn’t interested. I had a career planned in the oil business,” said the former University of Oklahoma Sooner. he Eskimos solved that by convincing Arnold we had just the right job for him here, in the Alberta oil business. “hat was quite the year in 1952,” said Arnold. “Frank Filchok was the coach, but he really wasn’t ready to quit playing when Edmonton management brought me in. So he put me into situations where I had everything to lose and nothing to gain, and he’d be in there when there was nothing to lose and everything to gain. “In 1952 Winnipeg had the best team in the league. hey walked away. We played Calgary in a two-point series. Calgary beat us 31–12 in the irst game. In the second game, Rollin Prather set a record for most catches … a record that lasted for years. I had just a tremendous game. We won it 30–7. hat put us against Winnipeg. hey beat us 28–12 in the irst game in Edmonton. 40
41 The Fifties Dream Team included an all-star backield of, from left to right, Oscar Kruger, Johnny Bright, Don Getty, Normie Kwong, and Jackie Parker.
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