January 20, 2005 - Norman Kwong

Norman L. Kwong of Calgary installed as Alberta’s 16th lieutenant governor. Norman Kwong was born in Calgary, 1929 to parents who had immigrated to Canada from China years earlier. In high school, Kwong took a liking to football and at the age of 18 in 1948 joined the Calgary Stampeders Football Club as a halfback. In doing so, he became the first Chinese Canadian player on a Canadian Football League team (CFL) and the youngest on a team that won the Grey Cup. He played for Calgary for three years before being traded to the Edmonton Eskimos for another 10. His career was a spectacular one. Known as the “China Clipper,” he broke numerous records and won many awards. In 1955 and 1956, Kwong won the Schenley Award (given to the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian player). In 1955 he won Canada’s Athlete of the Year. He retired from professional football in 1960 but came back almost three decades later to become president and general manager of his first team, the Stampeders. In 1998 Kwong was awarded the Order of Canada. Seven years later, on January 20, 2005, Kwong was installed as Alberta’s lieutenant governor, the first Chinese Canadian to hold the Alberta post. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.