Doug Falconer (Canadian football)

Doug Falconer (born January 30, 1952) is a former professional Canadian football player, having played in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Early years
Falconer was born in Calgary, Alberta. His father was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. Growing up, Falconer was constantly on the move. After attending no less than five public schools across Canada, Falconer split his high school years between Base Borden Collegiate Institute outside of Toronto and then La Salle Secondary School in Kingston, Ontario.

While attending high school, Falconer was a four-sport star. He participated in football, basketball, track and field athletics and soccer. In his senior year at La Salle, Falconer scored 42 points in the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Basketball Championship game in a 33-point come-from-behind win. He was the city's scoring champion in both basketball and football. He was also the city's long jump and high jump champion that same year.

Following high school, Falconer went on to play basketball at St. Lawrence College where he played at the guard position. Falconer was a member of the 1971–72 St. Lawrence College O.C.A.A. Eastern Division Championship team.

In 1973, Falconer transferred to the University of Ottawa where he played as a wide receiver and as a defensive back on the football team. He once scored two touchdowns as a wide receiver against McGill University and intercepted 2 passes as a defensive back against the University of Windsor in the 1975 Churchill Bowl. Falconer was a member of the legendary 1975 National Championship Vanier Cup Team.

In 1976, the prestigious "Achievement Award" in recognition of Distinguished Performance in the Field of Amateur Sports was presented to Falconer by the Premier of Ontario, William Davis.

Professional career


Following his university career, Falconer, #33 pictured above, went on to play professional football in the Canadian Football League in 1976 with the Ottawa Rough Riders (8 games), the Toronto Argonauts (2 games) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3 games). He was a member of the 64th Grey Cup champion Ottawa Rough Riders. In 1976 during the Rough Rider's run to the Grey Cup Championship against the Toronto Argonauts Doug intercepted a Chuck Ealey pass in the end zone late in the game to prevent a winning drive. He did it again against the Montreal Alouettes. This time he picked off a Sonny Wade pass in the end zone late in the fourth quarter to help secure the win for the Rough Riders. He played for the Calgary Stampeders for 2 seasons (32 games) and in 1978 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers he intercepted a Ralph Brock pass late in the fourth quarter and returned it 35 yards for the winning touchdown in a game that secured the Stampeders a playoff berth. In 1979 he played 2 games apiece for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes.

Post-football
Falconer moved to Los Angeles in 1981 where he helped pioneer the sport of inline hockey in California. In 1998 at the age of 47 he was captain of the NHL Breakout World Championship team, competing against teams from around the world including Canada, Sweden and USA. The Championship Trophy was awarded to Falconer and his teammates by Willie O'Ree.

University of Ottawa Gilbert-Fraser-Morrison Scholarship
In 2008 Doug established the University of Ottawa Gee Gees football teams’ first ever entrance scholarship. The scholarship has been named after the three coaches who were an inspiration to Doug through High School and University. They are Don Gilbert, Doug’s head football coach at the University of Ottawa, Doug Fraser and Bob Morrison, Doug’s basketball and football coaches at La Salle Secondary in Kingston. The Gilbert-Fraser-Morrison Scholarship is awarded annually to a LaSalle Secondary School and/or a Kingston area high school student athlete planning to attend and play football at the University of Ottawa.