It was a day like any other day. I was making calls on my paper distributors. I had just taken over a distributor in San Jose from one of my teammates. I met with the owner. His first name was Seymour and he was a Canadian. We had a good meeting and he ask me if I was related to Chuck Hunsinger. I said yes, he was my cousin. Seymour proceeds to tell me about the 1954 Grey Cup game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettees. The Grey Cup in Canadian Football is like the Super Bowl in the United States. Going into some detail Seymour told me that the Alouettes were on the 10 yard-line. There was almost no time left and they were already leading in the game so all they really had to do was to not make any big mistakes and the game would be theirs. Chuck was a running back and was handed the ball, it was clear that he wasn’t going anywhere running the ball so for some reason he attempted to pass the ball, the Eskimos forced a fumble which was picked up by Jackie Parker, one of the most famous players in the CFL and he ran it back 90 yards for a touchdown and the Eskimos ended up winning the game. Seymour said that in his circles if you screwed up or did something bad it was referred to as “a hunsinger”. I haven’t seen that in any comments on the internet so I can only take Seymour’s word for it. He said it was one of the biggest plays ever to happen in the CFL and certainly in the Grey Cup.
It turned out that he was a big ice hockey fan and had a suite at the home of the San Jose Sharks. He invited me to join him in his suite for a hockey game that evening. I ask if I could bring my son Jeff and he said yes, so Jeff and I were Seymour’s guests for the game. It was wonderful. The seats were perfect and the San Jose Sharks prevailed.
As soon as I had the opportunity, I went on the internet to check out my cousin Chuck. He was an All American at the University of Florida, was a first round pick with the Chicago Bears and played three years for the Bears. He went to the CFL and played for the Montreal Alouettes. At that time players played both ways and Chuck was a good running back and also an excellent defensive back. The one play, where he fumbled the ball and allowed Edmonton to win the Grey Cup, is, unfortunately, what most people remember about Chuck Hunsinger. There is actually kind of a happy ending to the story. After the play he was obviously distraught and met his wife at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel and went home to Harrisburg, Illinois. When he arrived home, there was an 800 foot-long telegram signed by 21,947 Alouette Fans saying “Cheer Up Chuck”. It was an amazing thing to have happened. The story indicates that he was elated by the gesture. I am sure that I have committed more than one “hunsinger” in my life. I never received a telegram cheering me up when it happened. I invite you to check Chuck Hunsinger out on the internet. It is a very interesting story. After his days playing football, he became a high school coach in Illinois. He did that for many years. I never met him but I wish I had. His legacy is very interesting to me.
