In his 10-year Canadian Football League career as an offensive lineman with the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos, former Fulton Secondary teacher and football coach Roger Scales had no idea he was part of a collection of CFL players’ cards.
And Scales especially had no clue how in the world his playing card from his days with the Argos in the 1970s ended up in the hands of a Utah dermatologist not even born when Scales played football.
“When I was in Toronto a guy was around taking headshots but I never saw them, and never gave much thought about it,” said Scales, 76, who, prior to turning pro, played college football for the Brigham Young Cougars in Provo, Utah. With the help of a Vernon reporter, Scales was put in touch with David Myers, a big fan of BYU sports memorabilia. Myers’ office is in Lehi, Utah, a 20-minute drive from the BYU campus in Provo.
Myers reached out to the reporter looking for Scales after acquiring his card and those of other CFL players who had played college football for BYU. Scales played three seasons for the Cougars from 1966-68. He played high school ball in Vernon and some college ball at Wenatchee Valley College in Washington state.
A card collector as a kid, Myers said it was about seven years ago that he imagined having some signed set of former BYU players’ cards on the walls of one of his patient rooms. When someone was waiting, they’d have something to look at.
“I envisioned having this kind of combined with what I liked to do when I was young, collect cards but for a purpose to bring up a cool conversation piece in one of my patient rooms,” said Myers.
In December 2018, Myers saw a set of cards that the CFL alumni office had issued celebrating great players from the past. One of them was Doug Specht, a two-time Grey Cup champion with the Ottawa Rough Riders who had played with Scales at BYU.
Myers was put in touch with a Canadian card seller/collector who sold him cards of Specht and Scales.
The Utah dermatologist and Vernon football coach connected by phone with Myers sending some of Scales’ cards for him to sign and return.
“It was awesome to connect with Roger,” said Myers. “It’s pretty crazy that 50 years have passed and he hadn’t known I had these cards. We talked for 45 minutes, mainly about football. I sent him all my cards and stamps of his to sign, and he personalized them.”
Scales appeared in four Grey Cup games in his 10-year career, winning a ring with the Eskimos in 1975 following a 9-8 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in the second-lowest scoring championship game in CFL history. He scored the only touchdown for the Argonauts in the 1971 Grey Cup, a 14-11 loss to the Calgary Stampeders at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Scales took a lateral after a fumble and ran 33 yards for the major.
He was happy to oblige Myers’ autograph requests.
“It was really nice talking with him,” Scales said. “I usually get together with a few former (BYU) teammates in Utah each year and go to a game. Next time after COVID, I’ll definitely look up David. I might need some work done.”
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