Canadian Football League lost an Icon on Sunday
The Canadian Football League has lost one of its biggest supporters. Bob Ackles, an integral member of the B.C. Lions for more than 50 years, died of a heart attack early Sunday morning. He was 69.
Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Ackles started with the Lions as the team's water boy in 1953 and rose up the ranks quickly. In 1971, he was named assistant general manager and earned the post as GM just four years later. He held the job until 1986 and was promoted to director of football development a decade later.
Under Ackles' leadership, the Lions captured the Grey Cup in 1985 and in 2006.
"It was our league that virtually adopted him when he was just a boy, and it's our league that has looked to him as a man for counsel, inspiration and leadership by example," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement. "As much as the CFL has meant to Bob, he has meant so much more to us."
Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Ackles started with the Lions as the team's water boy in 1953 and rose up the ranks quickly. In 1971, he was named assistant general manager and earned the post as GM just four years later. He held the job until 1986 and was promoted to director of football development a decade later.
Under Ackles' leadership, the Lions captured the Grey Cup in 1985 and in 2006.
"It was our league that virtually adopted him when he was just a boy, and it's our league that has looked to him as a man for counsel, inspiration and leadership by example," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement. "As much as the CFL has meant to Bob, he has meant so much more to us."
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