Steve Molnar, former Roughriders fullback, dies at age 73

Saturday was a sad day for Saskatchewan Roughriders fans as iconic fullback Steve Molnar died at age 73.

Molnar, originally from Saskatoon, played for the CFL team from 1969 to 1978. He backed up the legendary George Reed for the majority of his career, then took over as the starter when Reed retired in 1976.

Steve Mazurak, one of Molnar’s teammates starting in 1973, will remember him fondly.

“He was one of those guys on the football team (who) when you would look around the room, you would say, ‘OK, whose respect do I really need if I’m going to be welcome in this locker room?’ It would probably be with a guy like Steve Molnar,” Mazurak said in an interview Sunday.

Mazurak praised Molnar’s ability on the field and especially how tough he was.

“He was the epitome of toughness. I would describe him as a cowboy … He was just a grinder. He was a bronc buster,” Mazurak said with a laugh.

Al Ford, another one of Molnar’s teammates, has a similar view on his playing style.

“The one thing that I always remember is that he was always one of the toughest guys on the team. He was in the backfield with George Reed and he did a lot of that great blocking,” Ford said.

Mazurak shared one of Molnar’s interesting habits that helped contribute to that image.

“He always had a lip full of chewing tobacco. That may have helped defined his toughness. A lot of guys would carry around a little cup to use as a spittoon, but Stevie always had a two-finger lip full of chewing tobacco. He didn’t spit it out. He would just swallow and carry on with life,” he said.

While both men have a lot of respect for Molnar as a football player, there was a lot more to him as a person.

Ford admired Molnar’s dedication to his careers outside of football in insurance and mining.

“He was also very intellectual. I would come back from meetings and he would be reading some engineering book on something that was part of his day job. Obviously, (he was a) very talented guy on the football field, but also in the community in terms of what he contributed with his job,” Ford explained.

Mazurak pointed out how open and accommodating Molnar was with fans.

“At every opportunity, if there was a function that required players (he would be there). He would play on our broomball team, our hockey team and our basketball team. We would tour the province doing all of those special occasions as a team … He had his favourite charities and he was always willing to give of himself,” Mazurak explained.

“He was one of the guys that was stamped ‘true grit Saskatchewan.’ He did it all inside the locker room and outside the locker room.”

Hearing the news was tough for Mazurak.

“It’s a huge, huge loss … He was truly a Saskatchewan and a Saskatoon great. Saskatoon has a lot to be proud of with that guy,” he said. “He was pretty dang special.”