View source for Bernie Faloney

{{Short description|American gridiron football player (1932–1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{infobox CFL player
|image             = Bernie Faloney.jpg
|caption           = Faloney featured in the October 1966 issue of ''Canadian Boy''
|import            = yes
|birth_date        = {{birth date|1932|6|15}}
|birth_place       = [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1999|6|14|1932|6|15}}
|death_place       = [[Hamilton, Ontario]], Canada
|Height_ft         = 6
|Height_in         = 0
|Weight_lbs        = 193
|position1         = Quarterback
|number            = 10, 90, 92
|College           = [[Maryland Terrapins football|Maryland]]
|NFLDraftedYear    = 1954
|NFLDraftedRound   = 1
|NFLDraftedPick    = 11
|career_highlights =
* 3× [[Grey Cup champion]] ([[42nd Grey Cup|1954]], [[45th Grey Cup|1957]], [[51st Grey Cup|1963]])
* [[CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award|CFL Most Outstanding Player]] (1961)
* [[Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy]] (1965)
* 5× CFL East All-Star  ({{CFL Year|1958}}, {{CFL Year|1959}}, {{CFL Year|1961}}, {{CFL Year|1964}}, {{CFL Year|1965}})
* [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats#Retired numbers|Hamilton Tiger-Cats No.&nbsp;10]] retired
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1953 Maryland Terrapins football team|1953]])
* First-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1953 College Football All-America Team|1953]])
* [[Atlantic Coast Conference football individual awards#Player of the Year|ACC Player of the Year]] (1953)
* First-team All-[[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]] ([[1953 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team|1953]])
|playing_years1    = {{CFL Year|1954}}
|playing_team1     = [[Edmonton Eskimos]]
|playing_years2    = {{CFL Year|1957}}–{{CFL Year|1964}}
|playing_team2     = [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]]
|playing_years3    = {{CFL Year|1965}}–{{CFL Year|1966}}
|playing_team3     = [[Montreal Alouettes]]
|playing_years4    = {{CFL Year|1967}}
|playing_team4     = [[BC Lions]]
| statleague = CFL
| statlabel1 = Passing completions
| statvalue1 = 1,493
| statlabel2 = Passing attempts
| statvalue2 = 2,876
| statlabel3 = Completion percentage
| statvalue3 = 51.9
| statlabel4 = [[Touchdown|TD]]–[[Interceptions|INT]]
| statvalue4 = 151–201
| statlabel5 = Passing yards
| statvalue5 = 24,264
| CFHOF = bernie-faloney
|CFHOFYear         = 1974
}}
'''Bernie Faloney''' (June 15, 1932 – June 14, 1999) was a professional [[Gridiron football|football]] player in the [[Canadian Football League]] (primarily with the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]]) and an outstanding American [[college football]] player for the [[Maryland Terrapins football|Maryland Terrapins]]. Born in [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania]], Faloney is a member of the [[Canadian Football Hall of Fame]], [[Canada's Sports Hall of Fame]], the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the [[University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame]]. Faloney's jersey {{abbr|No.|number}}&nbsp;10 was retired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999.<ref name=number>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfl.ca/CFLNews9906/jun8_fal.html |title=Ti-Cats retire Faloney's No. 10 |date=June 8, 1999 |publisher=[[Canadian Football League]] |access-date=September 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010426150717/http://www.cfl.ca/CFLNews9906/jun8_fal.html |archive-date=April 26, 2001}}</ref> In 2005, Faloney was inducted into the [[Ontario Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Faloney |url=http://oshof.ca/index.php/honoured-members/item/29-bernie-faloney |website=oshof.ca |publisher=[[Ontario Sports Hall of Fame]] |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-date=29 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229012140/http://www.oshof.ca/index.php/honoured-members/item/29-bernie-faloney |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's [[TSN Top 50 CFL Players|Top 50 Players]] of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network [[The Sports Network|TSN]].<ref name="TSN Top 50 Honour Roll">{{cite web | url = https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?fid=10855 | access-date = 2007-05-05 | title = TSN Top 50 Honour Roll | publisher = TSN.ca | date = 2006-11-28}}</ref>

==Early life and college career==
B.J. "Bernie" Faloney was born in [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania]], where he played high school football before attending the [[University of Maryland, College Park]]. There, he played [[college football]] as a [[quarterback]], helping the [[Maryland Terrapins|Terrapins]] make it to the [[Sugar Bowl]] in 1952.  In his senior season of 1953, Faloney quarterbacked Maryland to be [[NCAA Division I-A national football champions]] and into the 1954 [[Orange Bowl (game)|Orange Bowl]]. At season's end, Faloney finished fourth in the balloting for the 1953 [[Heisman Trophy]].

==Professional football career==
Faloney was selected in the first round of the [[1954 NFL draft]] by the [[San Francisco 49ers]].<ref name="A great athlete, a great citizen and a storied Tiger-Cat legend">{{cite web | url = http://staging.cshof.mindblossom.net/accessible/SitePopUp.php?ty=nP&i=171 | access-date = 2007-05-05 | author = Brunt, Stephen | title = A great athlete, a great citizen and a storied Tiger-Cat legend |website=Canada's Sports HOF | date = 1999-06-15 }} (originally appeared in ''The Globe and Mail''){{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> San Francisco offered Faloney $9,000 to play [[defensive back]] and back-up quarterback.  However [[Pop Ivy]], coach of the University of Maryland's Orange Bowl opponent, [[University of Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], was moving to the [[Edmonton Eskimos]] of the [[Western Interprovincial Football Union]] and offered Faloney a $12,500 contract to accompany him.  At the time the [[Canadian dollar]] was worth 10 percent more than [[United States dollar|its American counterpart]], so the choice to head north was easy, Faloney later recalled.

A scrambling quarterback, Faloney helped the Eskimos win the [[1954 Grey Cup]] but then fulfilled his mandatory service in the [[United States armed forces]], serving with the [[U.S. Air Force]] from 1955 to 1956. A free agent after his military service, Faloney signed with the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] in 1957 and became one of the major stars of the [[Canadian Football League]], winning two Grey Cup championships with the Ti-Cats. Traded from Hamilton in [[1965 CFL season|1965]], he played for the [[Montreal Alouettes]] and the [[BC Lions]] before retiring in [[1967 CFL season|1967]].

Faloney was the [[Canadian Football League East Division|Eastern Conference's]] All-Star quarterback on five occasions, [[1958 CFL season|1958]], [[1959 CFL season|1959]], [[1961 CFL season|1961]], [[1964 CFL season|1964]] and [[1965 CFL season|1965]]. In [[1961 CFL season|1961]], he won the [[CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award]].  His career CFL stats include 1,493 pass completions of 2,876 attempts for 153 touchdowns and 24,264 yards. He is the first CFL quarterback to win a Grey Cup championship with both [[Canadian Football League East Division|Eastern]] and [[Canadian Football League West Division|Western Conference]] teams.<ref name="Honoured Members: Bernie Faloney">{{cite web | url = http://staging.cshof.mindblossom.net/accessible/hm_profile.php?i=424 | access-date = 2007-05-05 | title = Honoured Members: Bernie Faloney | publisher = Canada's Sports HOF | year = 1999 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Bernie Faloney was inducted into the [[Canadian Football Hall of Fame]] in 1974, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 1983, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, and [[Canada's Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1999. In November 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's [[TSN Top 50 CFL Players|top 50 players]] of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network [[The Sports Network|TSN]].<ref name="TSN Top 50 Honour Roll"/>

==Later life and death==
In retirement, Faloney made his home in Hamilton, Ontario,<ref name=FALONEY>{{cite web| title =Info Please: Bernie Faloney| url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778464.html| access-date = 2007-01-26}}</ref> where he became a part owner of a construction company. An avid horseman, he remained active in community and business affairs until being stricken with [[colorectal cancer]].

Faloney was the first Tiger-Cat player to have his number retired by the club when the team announced his number retirement on June 8, 1999.<ref name=number/> He died six days later on June 14, 1999, in Hamilton, Ontario.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfl.ca/CFLNews9906/jun15_fal.html |title=CFL saddened by loss of Ti-Cat legend |date=June 15, 1999 |publisher=[[Canadian Football League]] |access-date=September 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010426111345/http://www.cfl.ca/CFLNews9906/jun15_fal.html |archive-date=April 26, 2001}}</ref>

==Tribute==
[[Cannon Street (Hamilton, Ontario)|Cannon Street]] in Hamilton, Ontario, in the Brian Timmis Stadium and [[Tim Hortons Field]] area is also known as ''Bernie Faloney Way.''

==Video clips==
[https://www.youtube.com/user/CFHOFandM?blend=9&ob=5#p/search/0/vYzkMxxyCRA Canadian Football Hall of Fame member]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External sources==
* Graham Kelly, ''The Grey Cup'' (1999)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Faloney, Bernie}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:BC Lions players]]
[[Category:Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Canadian Football League announcers]]
[[Category:Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners]]
[[Category:Canadian football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Ontario]]
[[Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in Canada]]
[[Category:Edmonton Elks players]]
[[Category:Hamilton Tiger-Cats players]]
[[Category:Maryland Terrapins football players]]
[[Category:Montreal Alouettes players]]
[[Category:People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario]]
[[Category:United States Air Force airmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American people]]