| NUMBER FORTY | ||
| NAME | POSITION | YEAR |
| Mike Benson | LS | 2021- |
| Jessie Briggs (also #34) | LB | 2014- |
| Jason Congdon | LS, LB | 2002-03 |
| Phillipe Dubuisson-Lebon | LB | 2013 |
| Willie Fells | LB | 2005 |
| Jim Foubister (also #18, #35, #44) | HB, FW, P | 1942, 1945-46, 1948-49 |
| Bennie Goods | DE | 1999-00 |
| Cam Hall | S | 2007-08 |
| Melvin (Fritz) Hanson (also #10, #20) | HB | 1935-41, 1945 |
| Pete Petrow (also #37, #52) | QB, HB | 1949-51 |
| Frank Renaud | LB | 2017-18 |
| William (Buck) Rogers (also #56) | G, C | 1953-55 |
| Bob Sandberg | QB, HB | 1947-49 |
| Gordon Smith (also #3, #26) | HB, E | 1945-47 |
| Ossie Snell | — | 1939-40 |
| Cyril (Ty) Tyson | — | 1930-32 |
| Ron Vaccher (also #70, #72) | WR, T | 1948-55 |
| Odell Willis | DE | 2009-11 |
| Dondre Wright | DB | 2019 |
Canadian Football Hall of Famers:
- Fritz Hanson (1963)
Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Famers:
- Fritz Hanson (1984)
- Bob Sandberg (1985)
CFL All-Stars
- Odell Willis (2011)
Division All-Stars
- Fritz Hanson (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941)
- Bob Sandberg (1947)
- Odell Willis (2011)
CFL Awards
- Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (Most Outstanding Player, West Division) – Bob Sandberg, 1940
Bomber Team Awards
- Most Outstanding Rookie Player – Cam Hall, 2007
Other awards
- Lionel Conacher Award (Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year) – Fritz Hanson, 1939.
He Wore It Well: Fritz Hanson HB 1935-41, 1945
Melvin ‘Fritz’ Hanson was the Winnipeg Football Club’s first superstar, coming north to Manitoba via North Dakota State and his hometown of Perham, Minnesota in 1935 as one the first imports of Canadian football. He was paid a handsome sum of $125 per game and free room and board and was instrumental in putting the ‘Winnipegs’ and later the Blue Bombers on the map.
Hanson was just 5-foot-7 and weighed only 145 pounds, but frustrated tacklers with his speed and agility, all the while earning nicknames like ‘The Perham Flash’, ‘The Dipsy Doodle Dandy’, ‘Twinkle Toes’ and ‘The Galloping Ghost.’
The 1935 Winnipegs were the first team from Western Canada to capture the Grey Cup and Hanson was the star of that game, finishing with 334 yards in kick returns, including a 78-yard punt return for the winning score. Hanson was also part of the Bombers championships in 1939 and 1941 and later with the Calgary Stampeders in 1948.
Hanson was a charter member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1963) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame (1984) when both shrines were opened and was the winner of the Lionel Conacher Award in 1939 as Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Notable:
Bob Sandberg had one of the most spectacular rookie seasons in Bomber history. He joined the club in 1947 and not only led the league in scoring, but was the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player and led the team to the Grey Cup, which they lost to Toronto 10-9. He only played three years in Winnipeg before injuries forced him to retire, although he did return to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for a brief stint in 1951.
FYI:
We highlighted Jim Foubister’s contributions to football at Number 18.
