Greg Vavra: True blue Canadian quarterback

Greg Vavra, who led the University of Calgary Dinosaurs to their first Vanier Cup national championship in 1983, drops back to pass. He was selected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2020 but, because of the pandemic, inducted earlier this year.
Source: https://godinos.com/news/2020/7/16/greg-vavra-headed-to-canadian-football-hall-of-fame.aspx
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What could be more Canadian than a Ukrainian dance in the end zone to celebrate a team’s touchdown in the Vanier Cup?

The quarterback who threw the touchdown.

When Mike Siroishka did that dance in the 1983 Vanier Cup, it signaled the University of Calgary Dinosaur football team had arrived.

The man who led them there was quarterback Greg Vavra, who not only threw that pass to Siroishka, but also symbolized what being a Canadian quarterback means, in university and the Canadian Football League.

Vavra was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame back in June during the game in Hamilton between the Calgary Stampeders and the hometown Tiger Cats, and it brought renewed attention to one of the greatest Canadian university players of all time.

That 1983 season
The University of Calgary Dinosaurs football team truly arrived in the 1983 season. They finished 6-2, defeating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to advance to their first ever Vanier Cup against the Queen’s Golden Gaels at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

Greg Vavra, the quarterback of that Dinos team, had a season for the ages. He won the Hec Crighton Trophy as the outstanding player in the country, was First Team All-Canadian, set a single game passing record of 627 passing yards in a game against Saskatchewan, and set the record for most passing yards in a season with 2,823 that held up until 2015. He also tied the record for most passing attempts in a game with 55 against Manitoba, was Canada West Player of the Year in 1982 and 1983, and University of Calgary Male Athlete of the Year in 1983.

Vavra was the Dinos' kicker as well, setting a school record with a 52-yeard field goal against Saskatchewan; unleashing a 93-yard punt that is still the seventh longest in Canadian university football history; and was the school’s sixth all-time leading scorer when he graduated.

He did everything in that Vanier Cup. Vavra passed for two touchdowns, and kicked one convert and five field goals, which is still a Vanier Cup record, as the Dinos won their first ever national championship.

It was Vavra’s last game of university football. He finished a career that spanned 1979 to 1983 with 611 career completions on 1,200 attempts. His 8,401 yards and 63 touchdowns were also national records at the time.

The question now was, could he be the next great Canadian quarterback?

Staying at home
The Canadian Football League did not make it easy for Canadian quarterbacks with its rules on imports and Canadians, favouring American signal callers and discriminating against Canadian ones.

Yet, in that environment, Greg Vavra was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders, traded to Edmonton, released, returned to finish university, and joined the Stampeders in 1984.

That year he started 11 games as a rookie, going 4-5, and completing 161 of 324 passes for 1,901 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

In 1985, he was relegated to a back-up role, appearing in 10 games, starting two, completing 32 of 73 passes for 391 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. He was 1-1 as a starter and the last Canadian quarterback to start and win a game until 2017 when Brandon Bridge did it.

Save Our Stamps
The 1985 season was a disastrous one for the Stampeders. They were terrible on the field, and drew no one to the stands off the field to see their games.

The team teetered on the brink of collapse, so a campaign called “Save Our Stamps” or SOS was started. They produced a music video, raised funds and sold 22,400 season tickets to save the team.

Greg Vavra was front and centre for the campaign.

For his efforts, he was not re-signed by the club.

Up Highway 2, off to the coast and back
Greg Vavra signed with Edmonton as a free agent in 1986, but was released in June of 1986.

He signed with the B.C. Lions where he played two years, dressing in 23 games, and completing 50 of 101 passes for 839 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In 1986, he completed four of nine passes for 75 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, while in 1987 he completed 46 of 92 passes for 764 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Vavra started his last game on Oct. 11 where B.C. lost, fittingly, to Calgary.

After the 1987 season, Vavra signed with Edmonton for the 1988 season, where he was a back-up. He played in 11 games, completed 10 of 26 passes for 105 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

He retired after the 1988 season, appearing in 55 games, completing 253 of 524 passes for 3,236 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 31 interceptions. Vavra rushed for 194 career yards on 51 attempts, with one touchdown, in 1984. He punted three times, once in 1984 with Calgary for 43 yards, and twice with B.C, once in 1986 for six yards, and once in 1987 for 18 yards. He also had seven kick-offs with B.C. in 1986 for 359 yards and a 51.3-yard average.

Parting thoughts
With the advent of promising Canadian quarterbacks Nathan Rourke, who was on the road to becoming the next great Canadian quarterback before injury, Michael O’Connor and Tre Ford, it is important to remember those Canadian quarterbacks who paved the way for them.

Everyone points to Russ Jackson who was one of the best quarterbacks in history period, and the best Canadian quarterback of all time. Yet, the designated import rule that existed when Greg Vavra was playing, favoured American quarterbacks. Any Canadian quarterback who played at all at that time was exceptional.

Vavra had one of the best careers of a Canadian quarterback since Russ Jackson, but more than that, he did everything he could to contribute from passing to rushing and kicking.

He really did carry the banner for Canadian quarterbacks, a banner that has now passed to Rourke, O’Connor and Ford.

For that, and so much more, he was finally inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2020.