By Paul Friesen
Published Feb 13, 2024
Former CFL legend Ken Ploen died in Winnipeg on Tuesday after a lengthy battle with dementia. He was 88.
Generally considered the greatest Blue Bomber of all time, the former defensive back and quarterback was a four-time Grey Cup champion, one of the leaders of the franchise’s golden era from the late 1950s through the early ’60s.
Ploen remained in Winnipeg after his playing career, working in sales at radio station CJOB for a time and on Blue Bombers broadcasts as a colour analyst.
Described by those he met as a man with zero ego, he may have been as highly regarded off the field as he was on it.
“When I arrived at CJOB in 1973, Ken Ploen & his wife Jan immediately took Daye and I under their wings,” Bob Irving, the retired radio voice of the Bombers, posted on social media, after breaking the sad news. “That’s the kind of generous people they were. We will always cherish their kindness & friendship. Ken was a great football player but also a great family man & great Winnipeger.”
Jeff McWhinney, a Winnipegger who serves as the keeper of the Grey Cup, spent time with Ploen at Hall of Fame events and says the man was as humble as they come.
“When asked about a significant play… he always spoke of how the men around him made the play happen,” McWhinney said. “A gentleman by definition.”
An Iowa native, Ploen led the University of Iowa to a Rose Bowl title in 1957, named the game’s most valuable player.
Drafted by the NFL, he instead came to Canada, joining a team led by rookie head coach, the late Bud Grant.
“Kenny was a special player,” Grant said during a 2014 visit to Winnipeg. “He put us on the map.”
Ploen became a three-time western all-star, twice at quarterback, once at defensive back, intercepting a team-record 10 passes in 1959.
But it was his work on the other side of the ball that cemented his legend.
Ploen retired in 1967 as the Bombers career passing leader, with 16,470 yards and 119 touchdown passes, playing in six Grey Cup games and winning four.
Perhaps his most celebrated play was an overtime touchdown run to win the 1961 Grey Cup game. He was the game MVP.
In a run-heavy era, Ploen passed for more than 2,000 yards three times and ran for at least 300 yards in five different seasons, amassing 541 yards on the ground in 1960.
“Ken Ploen was the face of the Blue Bombers for years and then became a part of the fabric of this community following his playing days… a great ambassador for our franchise and our city,” Bombers president/CEO Wade Miller said in a statement, Tuesday, offering condolences to the Ploen family and his friends “across Canada and the United States.”
Ploen was inducted to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975, awarded the Order of Manitoba in 2007 and honoured on a Canada Post stamp in 2012, as part of the 100th Grey Cup celebrations.