Epic_Legacies_Book

“Ater we lost that irst game, management
demanded that Filchok play me. hat was
a big turn-around for me. he playofs just
made me. We beat them two games in a row
in Winnipeg,” he said of the 18–12 and 22–11
victories. “I had real good games in the playofs.
But I didn’t have a good Grey Cup game. he ield
was like a skating rink.”
Other factors might possibly have afected the team’s
performance.
“We played 27 games that year, and that’s not games like they
play them now. Most guys were going both ways then,” said Steve
Mendryk.
“We were all too amazed by the big show,” remembered
Don Barry.
“he following season, Darrell Royal came to Edmonton
and installed the Split-T and it worked great. I think everybody
agreed we were the best team in the league that year,” said Arnold.
he diference between Filchok and Royal was “night and
day,” Arnold testiied. “It was just good to play for a normal, good
football coach.”
Despite that, the Eskimos didn’t get back in 1953. Years later,
players would contend that the team Darrell Royal coached in
Edmonton in 1953 was better than the team that would win
Grey Cups in 1954–55–56, and that the best team of all in the
irst Edmonton Eskimos era was the 1957 team.
By 1953 the Eskimos had put together quite a football team.
Coach Darrell Royal would be here just one season before
going on to become a U.S. college coaching legend at the
University of Texas.
Billy Vessels also joined the Eskimos that year. Vessels had
just won the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding player in
U.S. college football but had chosen to play pro in Edmonton,
following in the footsteps of Darrell Royal, who had been his
coach in the States and had just signed on to coach the Eskimos.
“Claude Arnold and Frank Anderson were teammates of
mine at the University of Oklahoma,” said Vessels. “I came to
Edmonton to see Arnold, who was my quarterback, and to look
into the possibility of playing here.
“I was paid $12,000. I played halback. Normie Kwong was
fullback. Rollie Miles was also in the backield,” remembered
Vessels, thinking back to the year before Johnny Bright became
an Eskimo.
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