The story behind the photo: Winnipeg Blue Bombers alumnus Joe Poplawski By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 10:00 AM CST Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025

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This article was published 11/11/2025 (328 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this installment of The Story Behind the Photo, Free Press sports reporter Joshua Frey-Sam takes Winnipeg Blue Bombers alumnus Joe Poplawski down memory lane, with the Bombers legend explaining the story behind three photos from his career.

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Josh: Hey, what’s going on everybody? Josh Frey-Sam here with the Winnipeg Free Press with our first edition of our Winnipeg Blue Bomber alumni series as a part of our rollout to Grey Cup right here at Princess Auto Stadium.

I’m here with a man who needs no introduction. A very popular man during his playing days, his nine seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a member of the Ring of Honour, a man who is no stranger to this week in particular having won a Grey Cup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Canadian pro Football Hall of Famer and a five-time CFL All-Star, need I say more, Joe Poplawski. Joe, thank you very much for joining me, man.

Joe: Hey, Josh, thank you. My pleasure.

Josh: So —

Joe: First? I’m the first?

Josh: You’re the first, man.

Joe: Special. Ok, special.

Josh: It absolutely is special. I couldn’t think of a better guy to bring on first. This is really simple, Joe, I got a few pictures from your playing days —

Joe: Ok.

Josh: — that I wanted to go over with you, and, really, it’s simple. I just want you to take us on a trip down memory lane —

Joe: Sure.

Josh: — if you would. Hopefully, you remember. That sound good?

Joe: Absolutely.

Josh: Let’s get started with this first one here.  This is from Grey Cup. You doing what receivers love to do most, and that is scoring touchdowns. Now, I’m going to give this to you to take a look over.

Joe: Sure.

Josh: Maybe take me through that moment because that wasn’t just any touchdown. That was a touchdown in the Grey Cup.

Joe: Yeah.

Josh: Take me through that moment, what you remember about it.

Joe: Well, first thing is, I can’t remember if it was early in the second quarter or late in the first quarter, but we were down early and we were down big. We were down about 14 points, partway through the first quarter.

And I remember Cal Murphy brings us together — the offence, in particular, brings us together and says, ‘Fellas, you’re just shooting yourselves in the foot. We can move the ball against these guys. But, the week before, we had played in B.C. and I often talk to former teammates about this.

That game in B.C. was such a big victory for us because we’d been so close. The Western semifinal, or — the Western final, pardon me — we’re playing in B.C., packed house. Crazy George, their lunatic cheerleader, is pounding his drum and the noise was incredible, but we knocked off the B.C. Lions. So, and we’d beaten Hamilton quite handily during the regular season.

So, were we a little overconfident, perhaps, and was that the reason for the slow start? But we got things rolling.

This was a touchdown which, kind of, put us a little bit further over the top and resulted in us, I think, setting a record, which stood for about 30 some odd years. We scored 28 points in the second quarter, which was a big quarter for us.

In this picture, I’m being hugged by Richard Nemeth, who was a rookie. I remember, so many — we’ve got John Bonk, who’d played 12 years or something and he’s in the dressing room crying after the game. Fellow offensive lineman Richard Nemeth, it’s his rookie season.

And I remember his line after the game, he says, ‘I’ve waited all season for this.’ Here, John Bonk has been waiting 12 years, 10, 12 years, whatever it was. Nemeth comes up with that line.

Yeah, it was an exciting game and I recall we played in Edmonton, which was my hometown, playing in front of a sold-out Commonwealth Stadium. Big victory for us and it was also Dieter Brock’s final game in the CFL. Dieter had been a teammate of ours for a number of years.

So, it was quite an emotional victory for us in a number of ways.

Josh: No question, and you guys, you mentioned it. You guys rolled in this game, a laugher. This was 47-17. I know you mentioned there was some adversity you guys had to obviously overcome. For my football nerds out there, do you happen to remember the play call on this play in particular or the route that you ran?

Joe: Oh, I remember it very well. I was running against their outside linebacker, a former roommate and teammate of mine, Leo Ezerins.

So the field was extremely slippery, cold conditions, and Leo has outside coverage on me. And so I was to come across the middle about seven yards deep, and with Leo being on the outside and the field being so slippery, it was an advantage for me.

I simply rolled off of Leo, gave him a slight push, which gave me a little bit of extra momentum to come across the middle. Tom Clements, a little bit of pressure, steps up in the pocket, throws it across the middle.

And actually, on the replay, as I run into the end zone for the touchdown, Jeff Boyd, the wide receiver, actually blocks Mark Streeter, another former teammate of ours, a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

And to tell you the truth, it was very close to being an illegal block. So, the first thing I do after I get into the end zone, I look at the referee. Is there a flag that’s been thrown? No flag, touchdown boom, we’re on a roll.

Josh: That’s unreal. That’s unreal. I’m gonna take that one from you —

Joe: Sure

Josh: — and we’re gonna move on to picture number two here. Now, this is obviously one that I’m gonna assume is in celebration of some sort.

You have a beer in your hand, so I’m going to assume that it is in celebration. Now, you’re hugging here former president of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football club, Jan Brown, in this picture.

Joe: Wow.

Josh: Do you remember by chance this moment what it’s from? I’m assuming it’s in celebration.

Joe: It’s obviously in celebration. I wish I could say I recall the dressing room, but I’m not sure what dressing room that is. I can’t tell if that’s our dressing room or not, but I know I was joking with you before we did this interview, talking about the beer in my hand. That’s not the first beer I’ve ever drank, by the way.

Jan Brown, good friend of the football club, former team president, good friend of mine. I wish I could remember more about it and wearing the Puma hat because that was the footwear that a bunch of us were wearing at the time.

Josh: What stands out to you from some of these glory years for you guys? Again, obviously in celebration, you guys accomplished a lot not only as a group, but individually. A lot of you guys had a lot of success. Is there anything that stands out to you immediately when you think about all those years that run?

Joe: What a great dressing room we had, the friendships that we had and how close we were. There was a book put out about our 1984 season, and I read the book about a year ago, recalling it. It was a game-by-game sort of summary of everything that we went through.

We had so many ups and so many downs that season. We had some outstanding players, individuals that were just out-and-out dynamic. One of them was just inducted into the Ring of Honour this year, Tyrone Jones. We had such a strong defence. We had such a powerful offensive line. And we had running back Willard Reeves that gained over 1,800 yards.

And back then, in 1984, we only played 16 regular-season games. He was averaging over 100 yards a game. I mean, you think about those numbers and great balance.

I think we had three 1,000-yard receivers. We had Tommy Clements, who was having a Hall of Fame career. We just had a great dressing room.

The coaches, I mean, they didn’t take it easy on us. There’s no doubt that kindly Cal wasn’t that kind when it came to practises on the field. Some great memories all made possible because of great players.

Josh: That’s unreal. Fantastic. Let’s get to the last one here. And this one is — this is once again in celebration.

A really great group of guys right here at the 1986 awards. You are there because you have won your second Most Outstanding Canadian award. Take me through you as a Canadian person. What do you remember from that moment? And does the award of winning Most Outstanding Canadian mean a little bit more as a Canadian?

Joe: It certainly meant a lot to me. I don’t think that I can say it in general terms for everybody. But, having been born and raised in Edmonton, and really, when I was growing up, we didn’t have cable TV, so there wasn’t much NFL action that we were seeing.

All I was watching were the CFL games. And I grew up wanting to be a player in the CFL. So, for me to be traded by Edmonton to Winnipeg, you know, kind of set me back a little bit emotionally and that sort of thing. Coming to Winnipeg, making it my home, our home, and just playing for a wonderful organisation was extremely special.

This 1986 award was special for me because James Murphy is also in the picture and he’s winning the Most Outstanding Player.

Josh: That’s right.

Joe: I win the Outstanding Canadian, we being teammates, but we lined up on the same side of the field. Murph was the wide receiver, I was a slot back on the side. So, we complimented one another. It was a great year for Murph. It was a great year again for the team. We just came up a little bit short.

Josh: I think a lot of people would also argue this wasn’t even your best year statistically, which is saying something. You still win an award. Seventy-four grabs, 1,075 yards, and eight touchdowns here. Did you know, 1986 going into that season, that it was going to be your last year?

Joe: You know, I was kind of thinking that it might be my final year. I was having some back issues. I had been involved or I was involved with an insurance brokerage at the time, Ranger Insurance. I knew that my career was set. My post-football career was now on its way. So there wasn’t going to be a transition period for me. I was going to be extremely busy.

And I recall the last game that we played — or that I played — was in B.C. It was the Western semifinal or Western final, I can’t remember which one it was. But, I literally was taking medication for my back. My back was so sore. And I was having difficult times late in the season.

As soon as the weather started to get cold and the field started to get a little bit harder, that’s when my back started to flare up. And I just remember that, ‘Maybe now was the time.’ I was only 29 years old when I retired, so I still had some relatively young legs, but it was the right time for me to retire. It was a nice way for me to go out as well.

Josh: I was about to say, not exactly, not necessarily a Grey Cup, but the fact that you are recognised as the best homegrown talent, I’m sure that’s special.

Joe: Yeah, yeah. It is. It was. Winning it in ’81 and then again in ’86. Losing it a couple times as well. I had a pretty good run. So, for me to come back and win it in my final season, once again, a nice way to go out.

Josh: Joe, thank you very much again for the time.

Joe: Thanks, Josh.

Josh: And that is gonna do it for our first edition of our Blue Bombers Alumni Series here as part of our ramp up for Grey Cup 112. Keep checking back here at the Winnipeg Free Press website for more installments.