Keith Evans walked into his first Calgary Colts board of directors meeting in 1965 and discovered a scene that was so chaotic he thought a fist-fight was going to break out. Luckily, he got through that night without having to throw a punch.
At the end of his second meeting Evans was asked if he would take over running the team, which was in danger of folding. A football devotee, he said he would. At that point he was handed the team’s cheque book.
“I soon found out there was no money in the account,” he recalls, chuckling.
Forty seven or so years later, the Brandon, Manitoba native is still running the Colts. Turning 80 this month, he remains the team’s general manager.
“Our budget back then for one season was $37,000,” he says. “It’s $400,000 a year now.”
Evans has seen thousands of players, numerous coaches and countless team directors come and go.
He has, with the help of a lot of others certainly, kept the Colts alive by quite often performing magic tricks with their bank account and working late into the night organizing fundraising events. He admits to sometimes lying awake at night staring at the ceiling worrying about his team.
The Colts have never been a money-making proposition. When they hosted the 1989 Canadian championship game at McMahon Stadium, media reports indicated that even with a good crowd, the team would likely lose $7,000 on the contest.
That was the year the Colts captured the first of their back to back Canadian championships.
Evans has stuck with the Colts through ups and downs. He battled a vote of the board of directors that sought to fold the franchise in the mid 80s and he was there when they went through a horrific 34-game losing streak a decade ago. He reveled in the national titles and again gets to watch a rejuvenated product on the field — the Colts spent most of the 2012 as the No. 1 team in the country under current coach John Stevens before they were upset by the Regina Thunder in the PFC semifinal.
“My position is and always has been since I decided 46 years ago to try and save this organization that it wasn’t about me or about accolades or awards or credit. It was about continuing with an opportunity for young guys to play football,” Evans says.
“Even at the first meeting I had (in 1965) it was clear to me that this was a good program for young guys. That’s been my focus ever since.”
His says his reward is how he is greeted by former players when he runs into them years after they graduated from the program.
“Players from 25 years ago if you are on the street and they are on the other side they will walk across the street to shake hands with you — that means a lot to me.”
Evans’ efforts have not gone unnoticed. He was named Sportsman of the Year by the Calgary Booster Club in 1988, the same year, of course, that Cowtown hosted the Winter Olympics.
He will be recognized again this spring by his own football family when he is roasted May 30 at the Colts annual fundraising dinner at the Thorncliffe Greenview Community Centre. (For more information visit http://calgarycolts.com/press-releases/colts-to-honour-evans-at-gala-dinner-fundraiser.php)
Former players, friends and other football lovers will gather to have some laughs at his expense and raise money for the team.
“I’ve told them they could do whatever they want that night. I said I’ve been around long enough that I can field compliments and criticism equally well,” he jokes.
Evans is willing to put himself in the line of friendly fire because he loves the Colts.
“I sure as hell do. I will continue to care about them until I die.”
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