CFL, Bombers and Stamps mourn the passing of Lyle Bauer

03/05/2024 22:25

TORONTO — The Canadian Football League, along with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders, mourn the passing of Lyle Bauer. The former player, manager, team president and community activist was 65.

The news was first confirmed on Wednesday by his family and the Never Alone Cancer Foundation, the organization he helped form in 2004 after first being diagnosed with throat cancer.

"Lyle Bauer played a significant role for the Blue Bombers during his time with the Club as a player, assistant general manager and team president," said Blue Bombers President and CEO, Wade Miller. "He helped guide the team through some difficult challenges at the turn of the millennium and was a key component in the franchise's rebirth in the early 2000s. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family, his friends across the Canadian Football League and those he helped through the Never Alone Foundation."

A Saskatoon product, Bauer played college football at Weber State University as a guard and centre. He was a fifth-round draft pick by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1979 but didn't make his CFL debut until 1982 with the Blue Bombers. He would transform into one of the toughest players in team history, suiting up with the club through the 1991 season.

A three-time Grey Cup champion, he was inducted into the WFC Hall of Fame in 1998.

He transitioned to the team's front office after his retirement as a player, becoming the assistant GM in 1992, a position he held for three seasons and which included Grey Cup appearances in 1992 and 1993. Bauer returned five years later in 2000 as the team's president and CEO and helped steer the team through the most turbulent time in franchise history as it battled financial uncertainty.

The Blue Bombers became a force on the field under Bauer's watch – appearing in the 2001 and 2007 Grey Cups – and regained financial footing and he helped guide the franchise while also battling cancer. He resigned from his position in December of 2009 and became the Calgary Stampeders president and chief operating officer in 2010, a position he held until 2003.

"I greatly enjoyed working with Lyle, both as a teammate and in management," said Stampeders special advisor John Hufnagel, who played with Bauer as a member of the Blue Bombers and was Calgary's general manager and head coach during the time Bauer served as team president. "He was excellent in both roles and he was a great friend. On behalf of the Stampeders organization, I offer condolences to Lyle's wife Heidi and their children as well as to all other members of his family and his many friends."

CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, whose playing career overlapped with Bauer’s, offered his condolences and thanked him for his many contributions to the Bombers and Stamps.

Lyle Bauer was a warrior. He grappled with opponents as a Winnipeg Blue Bomber o-lineman, and fought for the franchise's future as its President and CEO. He worked in a similar role with the Calgary Stampeders and mounted his most courageous battle against cancer, as founder of…

— Randy Ambrosie (@RandyAmbrosie) May 1, 2024