Upon moving back to Saskatchewan, legendary Roughriders fullback George Reed resumed his immersion in community and charitable events.
Hence his close connection with the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum, which became a non-profit corporation in 2004.
Reed’s contributions were such that he received a lifetime membership from the organization on Sept. 13, 2014.
“We really appreciated him,” said Carol LaFayette-Boyd, a founding board member with the SACHM. “For me, what stood out was his humility and him coming out and standing firm with us and helping us, especially with our events.
“Here was this important person who didn’t see himself as more important than the rest of us. But to us, he was. And because he was that important, people came out to our events.”
Reed’s importance was saluted at the highest level when, in 1978, he received the Order of Canada.
The honour was bestowed upon him to recognize myriad accomplishments that transcended football — a sport he played at the highest level as a Roughrider from 1963 to 1975.
At one point in his illustrious football career, Reed was affiliated with 47 different charitable or community groups.
He played an integral role in the establishment of Special Olympics in Saskatchewan (1974).
The George Reed Foundation, founded in 1975, benefited an incalculable number of people who faced physical and mental challenges.
Although Reed never thought he was a bigger deal than anyone else, he recognized his name and his time could be used for the greater good.
“He was a really important person to the whole community,” LaFayette-Boyd said.
Regina was once an unlikely destination for Reed, who was born in Vicksburg, Miss., and grew up in Renton, Wash. (near Seattle).
However, Saskatchewan was the best option for Reed after he graduated from Washington State University. He signed with the Roughriders on June 8, 1963.
Little did anyone suspect he would become an icon.
Over 13 seasons as a Roughrider, Reed rushed for 16,116 yards and 134 touchdowns. He retired with 137 career TDs, including three through the air, and 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
In 1965, Reed became the first Roughrider to be named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player. He rushed for 1,768 yards, a total that endures as a franchise single-season record.
With fame came opportunities, which in some cases exposed a double standard.
“It was difficult walking into certain places that everybody didn’t know who George Reed was,” he recalled during a 2008 interview. “I’d get treated one way and then, all of a sudden, somebody would recognize me and it was a total different way that I was treated.
“That probably was as hard to take as anything, because I hadn’t changed colours. I had just become a pretty good football player. It bothered me — and it bothered me the way other ones were treated.”
Recollections of those experiences, and others, were shared with LaFayette-Boyd and the SACHM membership after Reed and his wife, Angie, moved back to Regina from Calgary early in 2009. Reed had relocated to Calgary for work purposes in 1984.
The timing of the Reeds’ return could not have been better. Rider Nation was still hurting over the death of beloved quarterback Ron Lancaster when George Reed was hired by the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation as its Director of Guest and Community Relations.
“I don’t know if I ever want to retire,” he said at the time. “I’ve been too busy to really shut it down.”
Reed liked to say: “If you want to get something done, find a busy person.” In that spirit, he once again became a fixture in the community, often lending more of his valuable time than had been requested.
He continued to humbly receive a seemingly unending series of honours, which invariably saluted his non-football endeavours.
2010: Distinguished Canadian Award (Seniors Education Centre and Seniors University of Group, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Regina).
2013: Saskatchewan Order of Merit (Province of Saskatchewan).
2012: Featured on a stamp issued by Canada Post, in conjunction with the 100th Grey Cup Game.
2013: CFL Alumni Man of the Year.
2014: George Reed Centre for Accessible Visual Communications established at U of R.
2017: Statues of Reed and Lancaster were unveiled outside Mosaic Stadium.
2019: A stretch of 10th Avenue, outside Mosaic Stadium, was renamed. The Roughriders’ address: 1734 George Reed Way.
2022: Regina’s Globe Theatre presented #34, a play honouring Reed.
The subject of the play attended its premiere and, as always, cheerfully posed for photographs with and signed autographs for everyone who approached him.
It was one of the final public appearances for Reed, who was one day shy of his 84th birthday when he passed away at his home in Regina on Oct. 1, 2023.
In November of that year, the CFL’s most prestigious individual honour was re-named the George Reed Most Outstanding Player award.