Ron (Atch) Atchison
Ron Atchison played 17 seasons for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1952 to 1968. The graduate of the Saskatooon Hilltops junior program (1947-49) was one of the toughest players in the game. In an era where most players went both ways, Atchison played offensive center and middle guard on defense for most of his career. As defenses moved from a 5 man line to a 4 man line, Atchison moved over to play defensive tackle in the new scheme. Atchison earned 6 Western All-Star selections (there were no All Canadian at that time), winning at middle guard in 1956 and 1960-63, and as a defensive tackle in 1964. Atcheson was a member of the first Saskatchewan Roughrider team to win the Grey Cup in 1966. Atcheson , is a member of the Rider Plaza of Honour (1987), the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1980) and the Canadian Football Hall-of-Fame (1978). Ron Atchison passed away on June 23, 2010.
Note: Sources disagree on ATchison's place of birth. Wikipedia cites Central Butte and findagrave.com lists Mullingar.
Atchison Retires - July 30, 1969
Ron Atchison Obituary (from findagrave.com)
Ron Atchison In the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
| Year | Team | GP | FR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | OFR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | SASK | |||||||
| 1953 | SASK | |||||||
| 1954 | SASK | 4 | ||||||
| 1955 | SASK | |||||||
| 1956 | SASK | |||||||
| 1957 | SASK | |||||||
| 1958 | SASK | |||||||
| 1959 | SASK | 3 | ||||||
| 1960 | SASK | 1 | ||||||
| 1961 | SASK | |||||||
| 1962 | SASK | |||||||
| 1963 | SASK | 1 | ||||||
| 1964 | SASK | 16 | 0 | |||||
| 1965 | SASK | 7 | 0 | |||||
| 1966 | SASK | 15 | 0 | |||||
| 1967 | SASK | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1968 | SASK | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
No games played statistics were kept until 1964 in the West. Fumble recovery statistics were sometime incomplete as not every player was listed (those years are left blank instead of zero). The 1967 CFL game participation statistics do not list Atchison in 1967.
