William Rankin

Boxing, Football Athlete - Inducted 1966

William Rankin won his first boxing championship, the 115 lb. Alberta boxing title, while he was still in high school. In 1916, he enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces and won the Lightweight championship in boxing for the next three years. When he returned to Canada in 1920, he competed on Canada's boxing team in the Olympic Games in Belgium. After the Games, William "Billy" Rankin played football for the Edmonton Eskimos. In 1921, he quarterbacked the Eskimos to the Grey Cup against the Toronto Argonauts. He missed playing the following year, but in 1923, he was back with the Eskimos as a regular for his final season.

After Induction