Larry Highbaugh: Hall of famer in life

Larry Highbaugh, #13 of the Edmonton Eskimos,
in action in the 1980s.
Source: https://www.cfhof.ca/members/larry-highbaugh/
(May be subject to copyright)

Lately, his name has been associated with his grandson who has made a name for himself playing the same position he did, but back in the 1980s Larry Highbaugh was a premiere defensive back, kick returner, Grey Cup champion, and hall of famer in his own right.

I was fortunate enough to cross paths with the CFL legend and hall of famer in Edmonton, before he died way too young at the age of 67 in 2017.

He is the only hall of famer I have ever met.

Hall of fame career
My first memories of Larry Highbaugh are the five-in-a-row Grey Cup Edmonton Eskimo teams from 1978 to 1982. Initially, I thought his name was “Highball” because I had never heard that name before.

Pretty soon, I learned that he was an incredible defensive back, teaming with Joe Holliman to form a formidable secondary. He also returned punts and kicks at an exceptional level.

He sarted his CFL career with the B.C. Lions, playing all of 1971 and part of 1972 there, before moving on to the Eskimos in 1972 where he played until 1983 then retired.

His career totals are 66 interceptions for 770 return yards. Those are both still first all-time among Eskimos. He was a Grey Cup champion in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982. He was a CFL All-star in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and a West Division All-star in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977.

Highbaugh’s numbers were solid from the start, with six interceptions in each of the 1972 and 1973 seasons; two in 1974; three in 1975; two in 1976; and then his numbers took off. He had five interceptions in 1977; seven in 1978; 10 in 1979 to lead the West Division; nine in 1980; seven in 1981; four in 1982; and five in 1983, his last year in the league.

He was added to the Edmonton Wall of Honour in 1996 and elected to the CFL Hall of Fame in 2004.

Hoop memories
In 1987, I moved to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta. As soon as I could, I started playing basketball, mostly pick-up but also intramural basketball.

I am not sure if it was my second or maybe third year, that I was playing a game of intramural basketball. While we were warming up, I noticed the referee. I had never seen him before, but he looked familiar. I think it was my friend and teammate James Taylor who told me the ref was none other than Larry Highbaugh.

I was in a bit of awe. At that point in my world, professional football players were on TV. I never saw them in person. Or when I did, it was on the field at Commonwealth Stadium, but at that point I had been to maybe one or two games.

So, it was pretty cool.

The intramural league must have been his regular assignment, because he did more of our games over the next few years, right into the mid 1990s when he was also officiating our games in the Edmonton Basketball Association.

What I remember most was that he was not afraid to teach us the game.

A new set of rules had been adopted one season. FIBA, which are international rules, became the standard, and there were some major changes, especially around travelling and the shape of the key.

Highbaugh gathered us at centre before the game and explained some of the major rule changes. They didn’t all sink in for me.

Later, during one point in the game, I got beat by this guy and I turned to Larry saying the guy travelled.

“It’s FIBA man!” he said in that American twang of his. “It’s three steps.”

We got to know him as well as you can get to know a ref, and my outstanding memory was of a man who knew what he was doing, had no ego, and was essentially the best ref I ever had.

Court side
There was one other memory. I was cruising through the phys ed building on campus looking for someone, and passed by the racquetball courts. There was Larry, playing with a woman. He looked up, spotted me, and wearing those athletic goggles, waved.

That was pretty cool too.

It runs in the family
Larry Highbaugh eventually went back to the States. He was teaching high school in Georgia in 2017 when he died of complications from a heart procedure.

However, his spirit lived on, not only on the football field, but in the CFL. Although, it was not with the Eskimos, but with their biggest rival.

His grandson Tre Roberson came to the Calgary Stampeders in 2018, playing with them for two years, winning a Grey Cup in 2018, and was a West Division and CFL All-star in 2019. In 2019, he also had three interceptions in his first game and two more in his third game, finishing the season with 10 interceptions and two touchdowns.

In a tribute to his grandfather who wore number 13, Roberson wore 31. It is too bad his grandfather passed away before he could see Tre truly follow in his footsteps.

Roberson left the CFL for the 2020 season, but has bounced around the NFL a little bit amid the uncertainty of the pandemic.

Parting thoughts
It goes without saying that Larry Highbaugh died too young. What really makes me sad was that he was one of the good guys. He was kind, sincere, funny, flamboyant, confident but not cocky, spirited, and a great role model for youth. No more young people, especially those who need guidance, direction, and positive examples, will have him in their lives.

My experiences come from my own time as a youth interacting with him on, and off, the basketball court.

He may have been a hall-of-famer for his achievements on the field, but he was a hall-of-famer in life too.