Toronto Argonauts

 Dick Shatto - Running Back - 1954-65 - University of Kentucky

Rob Malich - Toronto Argonauts website - 1996

 

For more than a decade, the main "go-to guy" on the Argonauts offence was Dick Shatto, a multi-purpose running back who has racked up more real estate than anybody else in team history.

 

How are these for numbers: 1,322 carries for 6,958 yards and 39 touchdowns along the ground. 466 receptions for 6,684 yards and another 52 touchdowns in the air. 16 career 100-yard rushing games and a 45-game consecutive reception streak.

It was statistics like these and his dedication to the team that earned Shatto two CFL and eight Eastern division all-star selections, as well as two Eastern Division most valuable player awards in 1957 and 1964. He was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 1975, but for all of the above accolades, last Thursday's ceremony at the SkyDome, in which his name and #22 jersey were left dangling from the rafters, may have topped them all.

 

"It's very emotional, very gratifying," said Shatto, whose uniform was initially retired after the 1965 season. "I won the Jeff Russell

Dick Shatto           U of Kentucky    
  Rushing       Receiving      

Yr

 Team C Yds Avg Lg TD C Yds Avg Lg TD
1954 Tor 72 386 5.4 23 6 26 323 12.4 35 1
1955 Tor 87 423 4.9 17 0 13 195 15.0 34 1
1956 Tor 118 575 4.9 67 4 41 553 13.5 45 5
1957 Tor 179 875 4.9 32 4 28 240 8.6 26 0
1958 Tor 154 969 6.3 41 5 35 536 15.3 59 4
1959 Tor 174 950 5.5 45 3 46 518 11.3 72 2
1960 Tor 122 708 5.8 34 1 53 894 16.9 82 10
1961 Tor 94 502 5.3 45 3 35 493 14.1 41 4
1962 Tor 94 465 4.9 54 7 47 808 17.2 63 5
1963 Tor 108 570 5.3 25 3 67 945 14.1 55 10
1964 Tor 56 203 3.6 11 2 53 859 16.2 71 9
1965 Tor 64 332 5.2 22 1 22 320 14.5 38 1
Total 13 1322 6,958 5.3 67 39 466 6,684 14.3 82 52

 Award twice (eastern MVP) and was up for (CFL MVP) twice, but this is the highlight of all of them."

 

Drafted by the NFL's Los Angeles Rams as a defensive back, Shatto instead came to the Double Blue, where he lasted for 12 consecutive seasons.

 

"I loved Toronto, I never wanted to play anywhere else," said Shatto, who with his success here, never decided to look back south of the border anymore. "I found that the Canadian game suited my style of play. Here, you could go in motion a lot, and I thought I was intelligent enough from a football standpoint to succeed."

 

And intelligent he was, both on and off the football field, as he came back to the Argos in the 1970's for stints as the manager of marketing, media and public relations, managing director and finally, as their general manager in 1977-78.

Away from football, Shatto's leadership skills also came in good use, first as a sales manager at radio station CFRB in Toronto, where he worked in the late 1960's. In 1971, Shatto moved over to a similar job with the Toronto Sun, which was just beginning to develop out of the ashes of the defunct Toronto Telegram. He worked at the Sun for four years, at which time he joined the Argos in the front office.

 

After his front office days ended in 1979, Shatto moved down to Florida, where he currently resides. For the last 12 years, he has worked at the Innisbrook Hilton Resort, a major golf and tourist attraction located just north of Dunedin, which is where the Blue Jays hold their annual spring training.

 

On the family side, Shatto is also blessed, as he and his wife Lynne have been together "forever and ever", and their union has produced five children (Randy, Jay, Kathy, Becky and Cindy, who represented Canada in diving in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal) and seven grandchildren.