Former Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Dave Fleming passes away at age 76

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Canadian Press on Thursday, former Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Dave Fleming of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania passed away at the age of 76. He played 10 full seasons with the Tiger-Cats from 1965 to 1974. The cause of death has not yet been released.

Fleming had 744 carries in a decade for 3398 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also had 233 catches for 3624 yards and 21 touchdowns. In a fascinating statistic, Fleming actually had 226 more receiving yards than rushing yards in his Canadian Football League regular season career.

Interestingly, Fleming was not always a running back for the Tiger-Cats. He began his career in the CFL as a kickoff returner in 1965 (two returns for 46 yards) and then played regularly as a defensive back in 1966 and 1967. In 1966, Fleming had three interceptions for 53 yards and a fumble return for a touchdown and then had two interceptions for eight yards and three fumble recoveries in 1967.

Fleming was also part of three Tiger-Cats teams that won the Grey Cup in 1965, 1967 and 1972. In 1965, Hamilton defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22-16 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. In 1967, Hamilton defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24-1 at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1972, Hamilton defeated the Roughriders 13-10 at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton.

The 1965 Grey Cup is known as the Wind Bowl. That is because the winds were so heavy (64 kilometres an hour), that officials put the fair catch rule in effect for kick returns. In the 1972 Grey Cup, Fleming thrilled the hometown Hamilton crowd by recording the Tiger-Cats only touchdown, a 16 yard catch from quarterback Chuck Earley, which opened the scoring.

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