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<\/p>\nWe open our latest instalment of \u201910 Lists in 10 Days\u2019 with some math about Bob Cameron, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers all-time leader in games played\u2026<\/p>\n
Consider this:<\/p>\n
-Cameron, who handled the punting chores for the Blue Bombers from 1980-2002, played in a franchise record 394 Canadian Football League games.<\/p>\n
That total ranks second all-time to B.C. Lions kicker Lui Passaglia, who played in 408 games during a career that ran from 1976-80<\/p>\n
-And Cameron\u2019s CFL record of 353 consecutive games played works out to 19.6 seasons without missing a contest.<\/p>\n
-Oh, and there\u2019s also this: Cameron was cut eight times before he landed the permanent punting gig in Winnipeg and kicked until he was 48 years old.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s luck, it really is,\u201d began Cameron in a chat with bluebombers.com upon his addition to the Blue Bombers Ring of Honour in 2019. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing for a punter to be in any hall of fame or be honoured like this. And I have to say that I have won way too many awards in my life that I don\u2019t deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the Hec Crighton back in university to all-star awards\u2026 I didn\u2019t deserve any of that. There were guys way better than me. I don\u2019t know how this happened, I swear to God.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know what?\u201d added Cameron with a chuckle, \u201cI\u2019m not giving them back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron was a gifted quarterback during his collegiate days at Acadia University \u2014 he was Canada\u2019s top player in 1977 \u2014 and that led to him being selected in the first round of the CFL Draft that year by Edmonton.<\/p>\n
After his shot with the Esks he would later try out and be cut by the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, and the Calgary Stampeders before his opportunity with the Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n
Back then, CFL rosters featured just 32 players, and the punting chores often fell to a position player who dabbled in kicking, rarely to a specialist who only punted.<\/p>\n
Funny story about his first go-round with the Blue Bombers, too\u2026<\/p>\n
In 1980, just before a game in Hamilton \u2014 not far from his hometown of Ancaster \u2014 he was told he was being cut again.<\/p>\n
And if you know Cameron at all and his self-effacing sense of humour, you know he can best provide the details.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo here I am in Hamilton and in the pre-game meal (then-Bombers head coach) Ray Jauch taps me on the shoulder and says, \u2018Yeah, you\u2019re cut. We\u2019re going to let Gerald Kunyk punt in this game,\u201d Cameron recalled. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018What?!?!\u2019 I had bought tickets for my parents, my buddies, my high-school football coaches. You talk about getting slapped in the face\u2026 put it this way: my confidence wasn\u2019t exactly at its highest at that point.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Gerald had a terrible game with a 35-yard average or something. It was like I had a voodoo doll and stabbed him every time he went to punt. He was a good punter, but I just thought I was better.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter we got back to Winnipeg, I went to Bob Vespaziani (his college coach at Acadia and then a Blue Bombers assistant) and said, \u2018Bob, I think I\u2019m getting royally screwed. I\u2019m better than this guy. What can I do to get my job back?\u2019 Bob passed away (in 2018), but I can remember him giving me the best advice. He said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to go into Ray Jauch\u2019s office and tell him what you think. Grow some balls and get in there.\u2019 I\u2019m thinking, \u2018I\u2019ve been cut eight times and I\u2019m going to do what?!\u2019 But I sucked it up and went into Ray\u2019s office and told him I thought they were evaluating punters wrong and that they needed to copy game conditions and that each punt should be charted for hang time, distance and time to get the punts off. That made it a competition. I tell him that and I think, \u2018OK, I know I\u2019m done here now\u2019 but Ray looks at me and says, \u2018All right, Bob. We\u2019ll do exactly that.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018What? Really? Holy s\u2014t. It\u2019s game on now.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you talk about pressure in Grey Cups, that was nothing compared to this. To Ray\u2019s credit, he went back to me and I\u2019m forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9200756.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Bob Cameron (third from left) at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame induction in 2010<\/p>\n
Cameron fought through those early struggles to become a legend in these parts. He would appear in six Grey Cups with the Blue Bombers \u2014 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001 \u2013 and has three championship rings from the \u201984, \u201988 and \u201990 teams.<\/p>\n
He was a four-time CFL All-Star (1988, 1989, 1990, 1993) and a six-time divisional all-star (1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995) and was the Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Canadian Player in 1988 and 1998. He was also the Most Valuable Canadian in the \u201988 Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
Cameron was inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame in 2003, the Nova Scotia Football Hall of Fame in 2009, Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Acadia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep saying how lucky I was, but It was my dream to play and I loved every game,\u201d said Cameron. \u201cI always said playing professional football was like you were in high school and you were getting paid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky I played on incredible teams with incredible players. I was the punter and in a lot of games I had no effect on it at all. Those guys won all the games. Not me. I was there cheering them on, for crying out loud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played with many, many hall of famers and some great coaches. But think about it, what if I had made it in Ottawa and then the team folded like they did (on the eve of the 1987 season)? All of it, as I said, was just pure luck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blue Bombers Top 10 career regular-season games played:<\/p>\n
1 Bob Cameron, P, (1980-2002) \u2014 394<\/p>\n
2. Troy Westwood, P\/K, (1991-2007) \u2014 293<\/p>\n
3. Chris Walby, OL, (1981-96) \u2014 249<\/p>\n
4. Jake Thomas, DL, (2012-25) \u2014 223<\/p>\n
5. Stan Mikawos, DL, (1982-96) \u2014 220<\/p>\n
6. Milt Stegall, WR, (1995-2008) \u2014 199<\/p>\n
7. John Bonk, OL, (1973-85) \u2014 195<\/p>\n
8. Ernie Pitts, WR\/DB, (1957-69) \u2014 194<\/p>\n
9. Roger Savoie, OL\/DL, (1951-65) \u2014 191<\/p>\n
T-10. Trevor Kennerd, K, (1980-91) \u2014 188<\/p>\n
Doug Brown, DT, (2001-2011) \u2014 188<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We open our latest instalment of \u201910 Lists in 10 Days\u2019 with some math about Bob Cameron, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-544865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}