By: David Grossman
They have been chronicled as having been one exceptional team.
Add the adjectives, as there are many, to describe what just might have been one of the most impressive gathering of talent on one squad in the history of the university.
That says a great deal.
Some 90 players, who had come from all walks of life and with an assortment of football knowledge, skills and experience. Tack on coaches, trainers, and support staff.
You’ve heard the term – “family”?
Indeed, they were in 2004.
The many years before, and now long after, their storied history on the gridiron as a group of accomplished and skilled individuals at Wilfrid Laurier University are being energized once again.
Athletes are often described in many ways.
This team was exceptional and exemplified by onlookers as simply dominant and phenomenal.
Undeniably, there have been, and will continue to be, times when other teams unite, win big games and shine with achievements and triumphs, there will always be a special place in the legacy of Golden Hawk football for the 2004 gridiron squad.
Those who judge success strictly on the numbers of wins, can point to an undefeated university football season in the Ontario University Athletics Association (OUAA). It was also a first in Laurier history to have reached that pinnacle of achievement.
Some believe, it may be difficult for a team to do it again. Who better to recap that team then former head coach, Gary Jeffries.
Looking back on his track record, Jeffries reserved some special thoughts while recalling the memories for what he called his “extended family”.
“When you’re a coach, you’re often very fortunate to contribute, in a positive way, to the lives of young people eager to learn and get better,” said Jeffries. “I have been a coach for over 50 years, 38 of them in football, and with respect to all the others who had their own stories of success, this team was something else - extremely special.”
Jeffries also knows something about the Laurier Sports Hall of Fame.
He was inducted as a coach in 2020. However, his name appears in that shrine of sports excellence as a coach for teams from 1973, 1978, 1987 and 2005.
Now, add it one more time.
“It’s not about me and never should be,” said Jeffries. “That 2004 team – it was a huge accomplishment and milestone – and set the table for the 2005 team that won the Vanier Cup, best university team in Canada.”
A selection committee unanimously selected the 2004 team to be among the honor roll of 2021 inductees to the prestigious Hall of Fame. It’s a special kind of honor that many believe trumps a championship or a trophy.
The 2021 inductees included a distinguished group of individuals, prominent in their time at Laurier. There was builder/coach Wayne Gowing, basketball star Whitney Ellenor, baseball’s Jonathan Brouse, football players Kwaku Boateng and Nakas Onyeka and curlers Richard Krell and Aaron Squires.
Created in 1986, the Laurier Golden Hawks Hall of Fame has recognized former outstanding contributions by athletes, coaches, teams, and individuals, during their years with post-secondary varsity sports and in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) league.
Examining the members of the 2004 team, it was a group that stayed together through the deplorable early days of defeat and humiliation to the spectacles of joy and excitement. It was in 2002 when a group of players, young and terrific athletes, united for the first time. A 1-7 record didn’t look good, despite several games lost by a few points.
The next year, the tables turned. Six wins in eight games, an overtime semifinal win. The team kept evolving and in 2004 – it happened. Laurier put together win after win – including the Yates Cup. Ryan Pyear, who many turned to as the team leader, remembers it well.
“This was a team of determination and resiliency,” said Pyear, who played football for 17 years and said 2004 was one he will never forget. “We had been through so much. There was a flood of emotion. We knew how to win close games. There was a common goal. It wasn’t about the name on the back of the jersey, it was the one we all had on the front.”
Pyear said 2004 may have been what he called the “real championship”.
“For many of us, it taught us how to win the big games, team development, it prepped us for 2005 where we had the confidence, fortitude and tenacity to go on and earn another big one, the Vanier Cup,” said Pyear, a former Rookie of the Year, multiple allstar, all-Canadian and Athlete of the Year as well as Laurier President’s award winner as the top male athlete.
Memories of a university experience.
The 2004 football Golden Hawks, now all members of the Hall of Fame, graduated with academic degrees, close friendships for life and flashbacks of recognition and remembrance.
David Grossman is a multi, award-winning communicator and storyteller with a distinguished career in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations in Sport and Government Relations. He is the recipient of two major university award: the USports “Fred Sgambati Media Award” and the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) “Media Member of Distinction”.
