Stampeders co-owner John Forzani loved a good laugh

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Before he launched his business career with a single sporting goods store in Calgary, before he parlayed that into a multimillion-dollar franchise, John Forzani was the mastermind behind the Day of the Duck.

It was, at least during the mid-1970s, a Calgary Stampeders' tradition and Mr. Forzani, with his wicked wit, was at the root of it. He would get his younger brother, Tom, to go hunting and bring back a dead duck. Then, while running an offensive play in practice, the quarterback would hand off the duck to an unsuspecting running back. The reaction ranged from sheer horror to utter disbelief, and it never failed to amuse the rest of the Stampeders.

"One year, we replaced the duck with a live pigeon," recalled Tom Forzani. "The guy dropped the bird and it flew away … John liked to keep the guys loose."

When John Forzani died of a heart attack on Oct. 31, it prompted an outpouring of shock and sadness. At 67, he had sold his sporting goods business and was ready to settle into retirement. He was in Palm Springs, Calif., when he suffered a heart attack on Oct. 30. He was rushed to the nearby Eisenhower Medical Center, where he died the next day after being taken off life support.

It was a sudden end to a full-bore life, one that saw Mr. Forzani succeed in football and business. He was a Grey Cup-winning offensive lineman for the 1971 Stampeders; a corporate visionary who went from one store to a chain of more than 500; and later, a part owner in the Stampeders who helped turn a money-losing venture into the pride of the Canadian Football League.

It was the Forzani name and John's reputation for hard work – with a dash of humour – that sealed many a deal. In 1974, he got his brothers, Tom and Joe, and former teammate Basil Bark to invest in his new venture, Forzani's Locker Room. He told them straight up: "I'm going to dedicate my entire life to this business. I'm going to be great."

John Michael Forzani was born April 5, 1947, in Calgary. His parents, John and Audrey Forzani, raised their boys to be great and that expectation carried over to sports.

The three brothers ended up playing university football at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where John was one of three team captains.

In a football rarity, all three Forzanis then played together for the Stampeders, though at different positions. Tom was a receiver; Joe an outside linebacker. John played left guard next to Mr. Bark, who lined up at centre.

Together, John Forzani and Mr. Bark took it upon themselves to liven up their teammates before games.

"We would do skits. I was his straight man," Mr. Bark remembered. "I'd say to him, 'Great shirt you're wearing.' He'd say, 'I got it in Chicago.' I'd say, 'It's a little big.' And John would say, 'I'm a big man in Chicago.'"

Mr. Forzani officially became a big man in Canadian sporting goods in 1994, when he purchased the Montreal-based Sports Experts chain for $20-million. That gave his company a strong national foothold. In 2001, he was inducted into the Illinois-based Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame for running a business that totalled more than $1.7-billion in sales. In 2011, Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. rolled in and bought Forzani Group Ltd. for $771-million.

While minding his retail business, Mr. Forzani was regularly asked if he was interested in buying the Stampeders. For a time, the team was riding high with Larry Ryckman as its owner, until the owner ran out of cash in 1996. Michael Feterik tried the ownership route, too. But the California cardboard-box maker lost favour when Calgary fans believed he had bought the team so that his son, Kevin, could be its quarterback.

Four years after buying the team, Mr. Feterik had bottomed out. Once again, Mr. Forzani was asked if he would consider buying the Stampeders. It turned out he was keen on the idea – but he wasn't the only would-be purchaser.

Former player Dave Sapunjis had assembled a group from the Calgary oil patch that wanted to strike a deal with Mr. Feterik. Instead of competing against Mr. Forzani and his group, Mr. Sapunjis suggested that the two men meet for lunch to discuss a possible merger – and that's what happened. A 12-member conglomerate was formed and bought the Stampeders for $6.5-million in January, 2005.

"I remember asking him why he wanted to do it," Mr. Sapunjis said of Mr. Forzani. "His response was that we needed to do it for the players, the alumni and the city. It was not about John – it was about his kind soul and giving back to a city and team that he felt passionate about.

"He was so genuine and sincere, I knew we were going to make this work," Mr. Sapunjis added.

And work it they did. With their three featured owners – Mr. Forzani, Calgary entrepreneur Ted Hellard and former CFL commissioner Doug Mitchell – the Stampeders were Grey Cup champions in 2008 and hosted the 2009 Grey Cup game at McMahon Stadium.

Since then, the Stampeders have continued to post winning seasons and now generate revenue for their new majority owners, the Calgary Flames. The National Hockey League team owns more than 50 per cent of the Stampeders.

"[Mr. Forzani] was driven but he didn't drive people away. He followed his passion and that's why he was so successful," said Mr. Mitchell, a lawyer with Borden Ladner Gervais. "I can't recall a time when we were angry at one another," he added.

To hear his former Calgary teammates tell it, Mr. Forzani was equally productive when it came to pulling pranks. The Day of the Duck was highlighted by offensive lineman Harold Holton, who was told that the Stampeders were practising a guard-around play and that he was going to carry the ball. As he came charging through the backfield, Mr. Holton was yelling, "Give me the stone."

Instead, he got the duck, which had to be better than what Larry Cates received. The Stampeders running back was getting ready for practice one day when he pulled up his football pants and out flopped the head of a pheasant. There are recollections that Mr. Cates posted his fastest 40-yard dash heading for the locker room door.

"John was an extremely funny guy," said his brother Tom. "If he put his mind to it he could have been a professional comic."

Mr. Forzani leaves his wife Linda, children Michael and Jodi and a legacy of good will. In 1977, he started the Mother's Day Run, a competitive yet fun event that has raised millions of dollars for Calgary charities. Some of that money was channelled to the Forzani & MacPhail Colon Cancer Screening Centre at the city's Foothills Medical Centre complex.

And there was one last donation. During his playing days, Mr. Forzani suffered concussions, although he didn't know how many. After talking with family and friends – none of whom thought he was struggling mentally – he chose to assist researchers looking into the effects of head trauma in professional football players. He donated his brain to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project in Toronto.

It was, said Tom Forzani, "something John would do … He was conscientious."

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