VANCOUVER – Defensive lineman Rick Klassen, who played 10 seasons in the CFL including nine with the B.C. Lions, has died at 57 following a battle with cancer.
The Lions confirmed Klassen’s death Saturday on the team’s official Twitter account.
Klassen, from Sardis, B.C., was drafted as an offensive guard by the Lions in 1981, but was converted to a defensive lineman in his rookie season.
He was named the most valuable Canadian of the 1983 Grey Cup, though the Lions lost the title match 18-17 to the Toronto Argonauts.
Two years later he got a chance to hoist the iconic trophy when the Lions downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-24 to take the 1985 Grey Cup.
Klassen joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the 1988 season before returning to the Lions for the final two years of his career. he announced his retirement after the 1990 season.
Over a span of 160 CFL games, Klassen recorded 66 sacks and added another four and a half in two Grey Cup appearances.
Klassen was voted a member of the Lions’ All-Time Dream Team in 2003 as part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebrations. He was inducted into the B.C. Lions Wall of Fame in 2007 as part of the Lions’ 1985 Grey Cup team.