Lions’ Hinton
remembers the
slory days at

Empire Stadium

WHEN TOM Hinton and a fellow football teammate,
Urban Henry, made the longest car trip of their lives from
Louisiana to join the B.C. Lions in 1958, the conversation
got serious around Salt Lake City, Utah.

“We began to question the
wisdom of our decision of going
so far away from home,”’ said the
Delbrook resident with a distinc-
tive Southern drawl.

Fortunately for the B.C. Lions
and the CFL, Hinton decided to
keep heading the Plymouth station
wagon towards Canada.

Once here, the offensive guard
went on to play nine outstanding
seasons with the B.C. Lions and
his many achievements included
being named to the all-star team
for his play during the first Lions’
Grey Cup win in 1964.

“T would have to say that there
were many, many gratifying things
that took place in my footbkail ca-
reer, but for me the Grey Cup
games, the two of them, | en-
joyed,”” said 56-year-old Hinton.

“IT enjoyed the °63 game
because it was the first time we
were in the Grey Cup and it was
in Vancouver that year. Even
though we lost the game, and that
was very disappointing, being in
Vancouver made it special.

“The following year we went
back to Toronto and beat
Hamilton who had beaten us the
previous year. That made it more
rewarding than ever, of course,’’
said Hinton.

Hinton was born and raised in
Louisiana and became a Canadian
citizen in 1963, the year of his
first Grey Cup game.

He is married to Patsy, whom
he met while in high school. They
both attended Louisiana Tech
University. Today Patsy is
department head of business
education at John Oliver Second-
ary School in Vancouver. The
Hintons have three children and
five grandchildren.

Although both of Hinton’s sons
played football, neither went fur-
ther than high school competi.
tions. °

Hinton’s eldest son Steve played

SPORTS

“GUARANTEED SERVICE”

By Anna Marie D'Angelo
News Reporter

‘for Handsworth Secondary school

in a year the tearn won the pro-
vincial championship.

Steve and sister Janet went to
the same university as their
parents and currently live in Loui-
siana. Youngest son Terry lives in
Vancouver.

When Hinton came to B.C. 34
years ago, he figured he would
stay two to three years and build
up a nest egg so he could go home
and start a sporting-goods
business.

‘After two or three years in
football, if you are lucky and
have not had serious injuries,

‘that’s just the start of it,’’ said

Hinton.

By the time he retired in 1966,
Hinton had been named to the
Canadian Football League (CFL)
all-star team five times; he was
named the Lions’ Schenley award
candidate for best linesman twice,
and he was the Lions’ rookie of
the year.

Today he is recognized as one
of the best CFL offensive
linesmen, and is a member of the
B.C. Lions Football Wall of Fame
(1987) and a member of the CFL
Hall of Fame (1991). He will be
inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall
of Fame on May 7.

The year he retired, the fans
voted Hinton the most popular
Lions player.

**Football is my sport, and it is
the one I excelled in. But I
thoroughly enjoy and appreciate
many different sports,” said Hin-
ton. .

Two years before his football
retirement, Hinton went to work
for MacMillan Bathurst (then
called MacMillan Bloedel Packag-
ing), a company that makes

LYNIN VALLEY CENTRE

1199 LYNN VALLEY RD

9380-9211

Wednesday, April 29,

SAT EDI

1992 - North Shore News - 15

Deine Ss a eS

s

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

NUMBER 54 Tom Hinton was the 5.C. Lions rookie of the year in 1958 and played nine outstanding
seasons for the team. The North Shore resident played in two successive Grey Cup games, and
was named to the all-star team for his efforts in the first Lions’ Grey Cup win in 1964. :

still has a pronounced

“Louzeeana”’ accent, the experts

in the southern U.S. say different.
See Hinton page 18

western Canada.

Hinton goes home to Louisiana
once or twice a year, and although
most people here would swear he

packaging and corrugated materi-
als.

Today, he is the company’s
vice-president of packaging for

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