Denny Ferdinand

Denny Ferdinand played junior football with the Montreal Alouette Juniors, so it was only natural that he would sign with the big club as a free agent after demonstrating his ability as a junior.  It was fortunate timing for Ferdinand as CFL teams in the early to mid 1980s were experimenting with non-import (Canadian) tailbacks.  After 52 carries for 231 yards in his rookie season in 1982, Ferdinand broke out for 603 yards on 102 carries in 1983 and an excellent 5.9 yard average per carry.  Those numbers earned Ferdinand the Outstanding Canadian Award in the East and runner-up for the CFL award.  An injury limited Ferdinand to only 8 games and 157 yards rushing in 1984.  Perhaps the injury scared Montreal, but they traded Ferdinand to Winnipeg in May of 1985 for a third round draft pick in the CFL college draft.  The Bombers, however, released Ferdinand in July before the regular season started, and he signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent.  It was a good move by the Riders as Ferdinand played four seasons (1985-88) with the Riders.  Ferdinand's best season with Saskatchewan was 1986 when he had 112 carries for 572 yards and had a career high 29 pass receptions for 277 yards.  Saskatchewan traded Ferdinand to Calgary in December, 1988 for a first round draft pick.  Calgary released Ferdinand prior to the 1989 season, and Ferdinand signed with Ottawa for one final season.  Ferdinand was described by former teammates as a friendly, happy go lucky person. 

Unfortunately, Ferdinand's life was ended at the relatively young age of 40 when a heart attack claimed his life on April 2, 2002.

Games Played, Rushing and Receiving
Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long Rec Yds Avg TD Long
1982 MON 15 52 231 4.4 0 18 3 7 2.3 0 14
1983 MON 16 102 603 5.9 5 34 8 128 16 0 43
1984 MON 8 42 157 3.7 0 11 8 68 8.5 0 26
1985 SASK 13 56 289 5.2 1 50 20 243 12.2 0 45
1986 SASK 17 112 572 5.1 2 33 29 277 9.6 0 28
1987 SASK 3 12 55 4.6 0 16 4 17 4.3 0 7
1988 SASK 18 85 425 5 1 36 10 72 7.2 0 22
1989 OTT 6 12 14 1.2 2 4 10 26 2.6 0 10

Kickoff and Punt Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long PR Yds Avg TD Long
1982 MON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1983 MON 27 749 27.7 0 55 0 0 0 0 0
1984 MON 2 59 29.5 0 33 0 0 0 0 0
1985 SASK 10 162 16.2 0 30 1 2 2 0 2
1986 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1987 SASK 7 195 27.9 0 59 0 0 0 0 0
1988 SASK 16 334 20.9 0 44 0 0 0 0 0
1989 OTT 2 37 18.5 0 21 0 0 0 0 0

Fumbles
Year Team F FL OFR
1982 MON 5 4 0
1983 MON 6 3 1
1984 MON 0 0 0
1985 SASK 6 5 1
1986 SASK 3 0 0
1987 SASK 1 0 0
1988 SASK 7 4 1
1989 OTT 1 1 0

Denny Ferdinand

1984 Jogo Denny Ferdinand

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