Honoured Members Database

Lorne Benson was born in Riverton, MB. His family moved to Winnipeg when he was a young boy. While attending school in the city's West End, he developed a passion for sports and in his teens boxed and played baseball, football and hockey.

Football was the sport where Benson gained his most fame. In 1948, he was a Winnipeg High School League all-star halfback for the champion Daniel MacIntyre Maroons. The following season he moved to junior ranks with the Weston Wildcats team that won the Manitoba championship. In 1950, he was the Manitoba junior league's most valuable player.

After playing one game for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1951, Benson became a regular in 1952. He ran the ball for 491 years, which was third in the Western Interprovincial Football Union, and won the West's rookie-of-the-year award. The nickname “Boom, Boom” recognized his tough style of play. In the first game of the semi-finals in 1953, Benson set a Canadian playoff record by scoring six touchdowns in a 43-5 victory over Saskatchewan Roughriders. Four came on short yardage situations. He also scampered 33 yards into the end zone and took a lateral and ran 42 yards for his sixth TD. His 163 yards rushing also set a league record. He played two more seasons for the Bombers, but a knee ligament injury in a 1956 pre-season game led to the end of his career.

A pitcher in baseball, Benson played for Morse Place in the Winnipeg Junior Baseball League and pitched for the North Division in the league all-star game in 1948. His baseball resume included attending a Washington Senators tryout camp, a game in the ManDak League with the Winnipeg Buffaloes, and stints with the senior Grandview and Calgary Purity 99 teams. In the 1960s, he was a hard-hitting infielder in Winnipeg senior A fastball with Monte Casino Legion, Merchant's Hotel and Concord Motor Hotel. In 1967 when Molson Canadians won our province's only Canadian senior men's softball championship, Benson was added to the lineup as a pickup.

Benson played defence for Winnipeg Kings that won the 1952-53 Winniboine Intermediate Hockey League championship. Curling later became his winter sport. He played lead for the Lyle Henry team from the Strathcona in the 1962 provincial men's championship and achieved an eight-ender at the club while skipping his own team.