PLAYING CAREER
EDMONTON ESKIMOS   1954, 1956-1967

AWARDS AND HONOURS
ALL-WESTERN OFFENSIVE TACKLE   1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
SCHENLEY MOST OUTSTANDING LINEMAN AWARD 1959

GREY CUP PARTICIPATION   1954, 1956, 1960
GREY CUP WINNING TEAMS   1954, 1956

AFTER AN ALL-STAR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER, ROGER NELSON WAS RECRUITED BY FRANK "POP" IVY FOR THE OKLAHOMA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL SQUAD. NELSON WAS ALL-CONFERENCE IN THE BIG SEVEN AND WAS CO-CAPTAIN IN HIS FINAL YEAR.

IN 1954 IVY, WHO WAS NOW COACHING THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS, ENCOURAGED NELSON TO COME TO CANADA. AFTER ONE SEASON NELSON SPENT A YEAR AT DENTAL COLLEGE, THEN RETURNED TO THE GRIDIRON. THROUGH THE 1967 SEASON, HE WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL LINEMAN WHO PLAYED BOTH WAYS AT GUARD AND TACKLE. DURING 1962 AND 1963 HE WAS THE OFFENSIVE LINE COACH IN ADDITION TO PLAYING.

ROGER NELSON'S COACHES REFERRED TO HIM AS, "...CLEVER...NEVER MISSES AN ASSIGNMENT, NEVER MISSES A BLOCK, NEVER MAKES A MISTAKE."

INDUCTED 1986 - PLAYER

Class of 1986 Hector (Hec) Crighton, John Helton, Don Luzzi, Jimmie Simpson