Barwell was a great Buddy
Paul Henderson quickly embraced the topic of the interview -- which, for a change, was not his heroics in the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey showdown.
Paul
Henderson quickly embraced the topic of the interview -- which, for a
change, was not his heroics in the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey showdown.
Instead, Henderson was asked about former Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Gord Barwell.
"He was one of my great buddies,'' Henderson, who established a ministry with Barwell, says from Toronto. "Unfortunately, he died on April 21, 1988.''
Barwell was only 43 when cancer claimed him. Despite Barwell's premature death, the mere mention of his name often inspires laughter.
"He was the consummate practical joker,'' Henderson says. "The common bond is that we loved the Lord. We were really interested in telling other people that the Lord loves them also.
"Neither one of us was what you would call a straight arrow before we became Christians. We understood what we'd been saved from. He was just a great guy. He had a great sense of humour. I loved his sense of humour.''
There are myriad examples.
"We'd go for dinner and I'd turn around and there would be a grape sticking out of one of his nostrils,'' Henderson continues.
"You never answered the phone. Any time we were doing anything with football players, something would happen. He'd say, 'The phone's for you. Go pick up the phone.' Of course, it was filled with shaving lotion and the side of his head would all be covered with lotion.
"Life's too short not to have a sense of humour. Gord sure had a great sense of humour.''
Barwell pulled one of his patented pranks in the early 1970s, shortly before the Roughriders embarked on their first road trip of the CFL season.
"It was when he had the Mr. Big & Tall Shop,'' recalls Nancy Barwell Kraft, who married Gord in 1964. "He told two or three different rookies that they should come in and he'd get them all dressed so they'd look good for the road.
"One by one, they all came in and he sold them exactly the same outfit. I think that was back in the days when there were the plaid leisure suits. So they arrive at the airport to go on their first big road trip and there they all are, dressed in the same jackets. I'm sure they got even somehow, but he just thought that was the greatest.''
Nancy had the same appraisal of Gord when they met as 16-year-olds at a high school track competition in Saskatoon.
"I borrowed his sweatpants and it was love at first whiff,'' she says with a chuckle from Tsawassen, B.C.
Barwell's speed was evident on the track and, eventually, the gridiron. It took him under 10 seconds to cover 100 yards, which made him difficult to cover.
Barwell's jets were on display Oct. 24, 1965, when he caught a 102-yard touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster. That was the longest pass in Riders history until Kent Austin and Jeff Fairholm collaborated on a 107-yarder in 1990.
Lancaster and Barwell hooked up for another memorable bomb in the 1966 Grey Cup. Their 46-yarder was Saskatchewan's longest pass play in its 29-14 victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders.
The following year, Barwell caught 30 passes for 753 yards -- averaging a stratospheric 25.1 yards per reception.
He remained with the Riders until 1973, retiring after an injury-plagued season. Despite being only 29, he had already played 10 years in the CFL.
Late in his football career, Barwell became a devout Christian. In 1974, he and Nancy attended an Athletes In Action conference in Chicago.
"It was really there that we kind of got our eyes opened to what Christianity was really all about,'' Nancy says. "We realized we had all the form and stuff, but we didn't have an actual personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We both decided that's what we wanted.
"It just added new meaning and depth and dimension to our life and our marriage, and it kind of went from there. We ended up going to work full time with Athletes In Action.''
The Barwell family -- including son Jay and daughter Jody -- moved from Regina to Toronto in 1977. Gord soon began working closely with Henderson.
"He changed lives,'' says Henderson, the founder and president of The Leadership Group ministry. "He had a big impact on a lot of players' lives.
"Kids still come up to me today and say, 'You spoke at my high school back in the early 1980s.' In 1984 and 1985 and around then, Gord and I did a lot of high schools together. It's sort of neat.''
Barwell was actively involved with AIA until the fall of 1987, when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. It initially appeared that surgery was successful. However, Barwell's condition would soon become terminal.
"I remember sitting one afternoon by myself in his hospital room and I was watching him,'' Jay, 41, says from his home in Oakville, Ont. "He had no chance, so we really couldn't communicate with one another at this point. It was just this powerful moment where I realized there were no regrets.
"We were always affectionate. As a family, we always told each other we loved each other. We'd had great times together. Again, there are things you always would have liked to have fixed, but that's just life. For the most part, it was awesome. Sitting there, I realized that if I wanted to do anything about lost opportunities, the chance was gone. And to sit there and realize, 'No regrets ...'
"There were no I love yous not said. If you've got to go, this is a pretty good way to go. The slate is clean. That was really powerful for me.''
Jay and his wife, Pam, have two sons -- Tanner, 11, and Jesse, 9. The elder child's full name is Tanner Gordon Barwell.
"Would it have been great to have my father around as a friend and a counsellor? Absolutely,'' Jay reflects. "Would it have been great for him to have watched his grandkids grow up? Absolutely. But the years we had were awesome years, so we'll take all the good out of them we can and live with the rest.''
Nancy credits her friends, family and faith for helping her endure Gord's illness and passing.
"One question I never asked was: 'Why? Why me?' '' she says. "Why not me? Just because Gord lived a pretty good life and loved the Lord and was serving people doesn't mean these things can't happen. Illness, sickness and death are the result of man's failure way back at the beginning of time.
"Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that you're not going to have tough times. What it means is that you've got somebody to take you through the tough times. That's the strength that you get from that relationship. I really never did ask, 'Why me?' I was thankful for the years we had. I would have liked to have had a lot more, but that was one question that I didn't deal with.''
Nancy remarried in 1999. Gerry Kraft, Nancy's husband, is the executive director of a mission organization -- Outreach Canada -- with which she is also involved. Gerry lost his wife to cancer before meeting Nancy.
Although Nancy is focusing on the latest chapter of her life, she often reflects upon and appreciates her time with Gord.
"When that's your first love and you marry and have children and spend over 27 years together, probably not many days go by that you don't think of something or other that has to do with him,'' she says. "You're happily married again, but that's just part of your life.''
Jay is also frequently reminded of his father -- often by football fans.
"I'll travel through the West even now and I'll get introduced to someone,'' says Jay, who is the vice-president of media production for Focus On The Family. "Somebody will say, 'This is Jay Barwell,' and the other person will say, 'You're not related to Gordie, are you?'
"To know that people are still connected to the game and still connected to Dad, that's a pretty cool thing.''
Instead, Henderson was asked about former Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Gord Barwell.
"He was one of my great buddies,'' Henderson, who established a ministry with Barwell, says from Toronto. "Unfortunately, he died on April 21, 1988.''
Barwell was only 43 when cancer claimed him. Despite Barwell's premature death, the mere mention of his name often inspires laughter.
"He was the consummate practical joker,'' Henderson says. "The common bond is that we loved the Lord. We were really interested in telling other people that the Lord loves them also.
"Neither one of us was what you would call a straight arrow before we became Christians. We understood what we'd been saved from. He was just a great guy. He had a great sense of humour. I loved his sense of humour.''
There are myriad examples.
"We'd go for dinner and I'd turn around and there would be a grape sticking out of one of his nostrils,'' Henderson continues.
"You never answered the phone. Any time we were doing anything with football players, something would happen. He'd say, 'The phone's for you. Go pick up the phone.' Of course, it was filled with shaving lotion and the side of his head would all be covered with lotion.
"Life's too short not to have a sense of humour. Gord sure had a great sense of humour.''
Barwell pulled one of his patented pranks in the early 1970s, shortly before the Roughriders embarked on their first road trip of the CFL season.
"It was when he had the Mr. Big & Tall Shop,'' recalls Nancy Barwell Kraft, who married Gord in 1964. "He told two or three different rookies that they should come in and he'd get them all dressed so they'd look good for the road.
"One by one, they all came in and he sold them exactly the same outfit. I think that was back in the days when there were the plaid leisure suits. So they arrive at the airport to go on their first big road trip and there they all are, dressed in the same jackets. I'm sure they got even somehow, but he just thought that was the greatest.''
Nancy had the same appraisal of Gord when they met as 16-year-olds at a high school track competition in Saskatoon.
"I borrowed his sweatpants and it was love at first whiff,'' she says with a chuckle from Tsawassen, B.C.
Barwell's speed was evident on the track and, eventually, the gridiron. It took him under 10 seconds to cover 100 yards, which made him difficult to cover.
Barwell's jets were on display Oct. 24, 1965, when he caught a 102-yard touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster. That was the longest pass in Riders history until Kent Austin and Jeff Fairholm collaborated on a 107-yarder in 1990.
Lancaster and Barwell hooked up for another memorable bomb in the 1966 Grey Cup. Their 46-yarder was Saskatchewan's longest pass play in its 29-14 victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders.
The following year, Barwell caught 30 passes for 753 yards -- averaging a stratospheric 25.1 yards per reception.
He remained with the Riders until 1973, retiring after an injury-plagued season. Despite being only 29, he had already played 10 years in the CFL.
Late in his football career, Barwell became a devout Christian. In 1974, he and Nancy attended an Athletes In Action conference in Chicago.
"It was really there that we kind of got our eyes opened to what Christianity was really all about,'' Nancy says. "We realized we had all the form and stuff, but we didn't have an actual personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We both decided that's what we wanted.
"It just added new meaning and depth and dimension to our life and our marriage, and it kind of went from there. We ended up going to work full time with Athletes In Action.''
The Barwell family -- including son Jay and daughter Jody -- moved from Regina to Toronto in 1977. Gord soon began working closely with Henderson.
"He changed lives,'' says Henderson, the founder and president of The Leadership Group ministry. "He had a big impact on a lot of players' lives.
"Kids still come up to me today and say, 'You spoke at my high school back in the early 1980s.' In 1984 and 1985 and around then, Gord and I did a lot of high schools together. It's sort of neat.''
Barwell was actively involved with AIA until the fall of 1987, when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. It initially appeared that surgery was successful. However, Barwell's condition would soon become terminal.
"I remember sitting one afternoon by myself in his hospital room and I was watching him,'' Jay, 41, says from his home in Oakville, Ont. "He had no chance, so we really couldn't communicate with one another at this point. It was just this powerful moment where I realized there were no regrets.
"We were always affectionate. As a family, we always told each other we loved each other. We'd had great times together. Again, there are things you always would have liked to have fixed, but that's just life. For the most part, it was awesome. Sitting there, I realized that if I wanted to do anything about lost opportunities, the chance was gone. And to sit there and realize, 'No regrets ...'
"There were no I love yous not said. If you've got to go, this is a pretty good way to go. The slate is clean. That was really powerful for me.''
Jay and his wife, Pam, have two sons -- Tanner, 11, and Jesse, 9. The elder child's full name is Tanner Gordon Barwell.
"Would it have been great to have my father around as a friend and a counsellor? Absolutely,'' Jay reflects. "Would it have been great for him to have watched his grandkids grow up? Absolutely. But the years we had were awesome years, so we'll take all the good out of them we can and live with the rest.''
Nancy credits her friends, family and faith for helping her endure Gord's illness and passing.
"One question I never asked was: 'Why? Why me?' '' she says. "Why not me? Just because Gord lived a pretty good life and loved the Lord and was serving people doesn't mean these things can't happen. Illness, sickness and death are the result of man's failure way back at the beginning of time.
"Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that you're not going to have tough times. What it means is that you've got somebody to take you through the tough times. That's the strength that you get from that relationship. I really never did ask, 'Why me?' I was thankful for the years we had. I would have liked to have had a lot more, but that was one question that I didn't deal with.''
Nancy remarried in 1999. Gerry Kraft, Nancy's husband, is the executive director of a mission organization -- Outreach Canada -- with which she is also involved. Gerry lost his wife to cancer before meeting Nancy.
Although Nancy is focusing on the latest chapter of her life, she often reflects upon and appreciates her time with Gord.
"When that's your first love and you marry and have children and spend over 27 years together, probably not many days go by that you don't think of something or other that has to do with him,'' she says. "You're happily married again, but that's just part of your life.''
Jay is also frequently reminded of his father -- often by football fans.
"I'll travel through the West even now and I'll get introduced to someone,'' says Jay, who is the vice-president of media production for Focus On The Family. "Somebody will say, 'This is Jay Barwell,' and the other person will say, 'You're not related to Gordie, are you?'
"To know that people are still connected to the game and still connected to Dad, that's a pretty cool thing.''
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
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