A native of Vancouver, Pantages joined the Calgary Stampeders in 1948 after playing junior football in his home town. Pantages arrived in Calgary just in time for the Stampeders undefeated season and a Grey Cup Championship. If your memory needs jogging, 1948 was the year the Calgary fans went East to Toronto and rode a horse through the lobby of the Royal York Hotel and turned the Grey Cup into the national party it is today.
After playing with Calgary in 1949, Pantages joined the Montreal Alouettes for two season in 1950 and 1951 before returning West. From 1952 to 1954, Pantages toiled for the Edmonton Eskimos, and won his second Grey Cup in 1954 when a young Jackie Parker arrived on the scene.
The first individual stats are available for Pantages in 1952, and that was his best season offensively with 52 carries for 277 yards. Besides playing running back, Pantages was also the Edmonton punter for those three seasons. He averaged a more than respectable 43.2, 44.4 and 43.0 yards per kick in his years with Edmonton. In 1955, Pantages joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders and played two seasons with them to complete his CFL career.
Rod Pantages passed away on July 5, 2012.
Alouettes Snatch Panatages from Calgary - February 14, 1950
Pantages Wants To Play In Edmonton - May 19, 1951 (scroll down)
| Year | Team | GP | PA | PC | % | Yds | TD | Int | Sacked | Yds | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CAL | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1949 | CAL | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1950 | MON | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1951 | MON | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1952 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 277 | 5.3 | 3 | 4 | 91 | 22.7 | 0 | 23 | ||||
| 1953 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 135 | 6.4 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| 1954 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 1955 | SASK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 211 | 4.2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 1956 | SASK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 83 | 3.6 | 2 | 4 | 44 | 11 | 0 | 39 | 15 |
Official individual stats were not kept in the West until 1950 and in the East until 1954.
Games played stats were not kept i nthe East until 1960 and in the West until 1964. The numbers for 50 and 51 come from the 2006 Montreal media guide.
| Year | Team | P | Yds | Avg | Long | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CAL | |||||
| 1949 | CAL | |||||
| 1950 | MON | |||||
| 1951 | MON | |||||
| 1952 | EDM | 109 | 4710 | 43.2 | 8 | |
| 1953 | EDM | 118 | 5247 | 44.4 | 11 | |
| 1954 | EDM | 48 | 2065 | 43 | 66 | 4 |
| 1955 | SASK | 56 | 2260 | 40.3 | 71 | 2 |
| 1956 | SASK | 8 | 544 | 68 | 77 | 3 |
| Year | Team | F | FL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CAL | 0 | |
| 1949 | CAL | ||
| 1950 | MON | ||
| 1951 | MON | ||
| 1952 | EDM | ||
| 1953 | EDM | ||
| 1954 | EDM | 1 | |
| 1955 | SASK | 3 | |
| 1956 | SASK | 0 |
| Year | Team | KOR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CAL | |||||
| 1949 | CAL | |||||
| 1950 | MON | |||||
| 1951 | MON | |||||
| 1952 | EDM | 1 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| 1953 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1954 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1955 | SASK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1956 | SASK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
