| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: 1929 | |
| Place of birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA | |
| Date of death: December 9, 1956 (aged 27) | |
| Place of death: Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada | |
| Career information | |
| No regular season or postseason appearances | |
| Career history | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Melvin Howard "Mel" Becket, (born 1929 in Chicago, Illinois - died December 9, 1956, on Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada) was an American college football and professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people that died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.[1]
Becket played his entire four-year professional football career as a tight end and center for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, and his #40 jersey is one of eight that has been retired by the club.
College career[]
Becket played college football for the Indiana University Hoosiers from 1947 to 1951.[2]
Professional career[]
Following college, Becket was drafted in the 8th round of the 1952 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.[2] Becket spurned the NFL and instead signed with the WIFU Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he starred for four years. He was named a Western All-Star in 1956, and was on his way back to Regina, Saskatchewan, on Flight 810 after playing in the East–West All-Star game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 1956.[1]
Death[]
Becket, along with Roughriders teammates, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk, were passengers on Flight 810 with another WIFU player, Calvin Jones, of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[1] All five players were present at the 1956 All-Star game in Vancouver, British Columbia, and were headed back to their respective teams' home cities. The five players were accompanied by 54 other passengers, which included 1 football official, and 3 crew members, who all lost their lives in Western Canada's worst aviation disaster on December 9, 1956.[1]The crash is the subject of the 2012 documentary The Crash, part of TSN's Engraved on a Nation series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th Grey Cup.[3][4] He is survived by his wife Joyce Wagner and his daughter Robin Becket.
Legacy[]
Since 1957, in memory of Becket and his teammate Mario DeMarco, the DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy has been annually awarded to the most outstanding lineman in the CFL's West Division.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 O'Keefe, Betty (2006). Disaster on Mount Slesse. Caitlin Press. ISBN 1-894759-21-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=uoRGAAAAYAAJ&q=disaster+on+mount+slesse&dq=disaster+on+mount+slesse&ei=qW3-SteRBoqQlQT-z5miDw. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Disaster on Mount Slesse" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "2008 Indiana University Football Media Guide - Hoosiers in the NFL". Indiana University. 2008. http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/wast/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/history-records-mg05.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ↑ McNeil, Shane (November 2, 2012). "Engraved On a Nation: A Family United Through Tragedy". The Sports Network. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408669. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ Beamish, Mike (November 1, 2012). "Fatal 1956 CFL air crash-Engraved On a Nation: Recalling a flight taken, and not taken". The Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Fatal+1956+crash+Engraved+Nation/7479464/story.html. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
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