For all he accomplished during his eight seasons as a running back with the Calgary Stampeders, Willie Burden never played in a Grey Cup game.
And yesterday, if he had wanted to recognize two people at least partly responsible for that, Burden only needed to look at the men being inducted alongside him into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Quarterback Warren Moon and defensive end James Parker were new blood in the lineup when the Eskimos won their five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982.
Burden experienced firsthand the look those Eskimos had in their eyes during the CFL's last dynasty.
"We had that same look but it's just that they were better than us," said Burden, who was the CFL's outstanding player in 1975 and retired after the 1981 season. "It was two great teams but they had the attitude of a winner and a close organization. We were using them as a model, we were trying to be like the Edmonton Eskimos.
"It was a difficult thing for me that we didn't get past them," Burden said. "It's probably my biggest disappointment, not getting to a Grey Cup game.
"And, at that time, the late 70s, we were probably the second-best team in Canada, but Edmonton was dominant and if we could've gotten past them in the Western final, I'm sure we would have won the Grey Cup."
Moon won the first of Edmonton's Grey Cups during his rookie season of 1978, but didn't become the team's starter until 1980, the same year Parker joined the league. Between them, they collected 10 Grey Cup rings.
Parker, the CFL's career single-season sack leader, Burden and Moon were joined by former B.C. Lion Bill Frank and builder Sid Forster (posthumously) in yesterday's inductions.
Other Hall of Fame players from the Edmonton dynasty include Dave Cutler, Dan Kepley, Dave Fennell and Tom Scott.
Parker, like Moon, won five Grey Cup titles, but two of his came with B.C. and Toronto. The fact he stepped into the midst of a dynasty helped him become one of the CFL greats. "First of all, you had to learn to be humble going to a team that had just won two Grey Cups," Parker said. "You couldn't be cocky. You sat back and learned from the veterans. That way the guys worked with you and taught you some of the things to make you better."
Parker learned from such defensive players as Fennell, Ron Estay and David Boone.
"My game was a combination of all those guys' games," he said. "I took a little of each of them and added it to myself. That's what you can do with veterans because if they've won two Grey Cups, they must know something."
The Eskimos' success has been unparalleled in a sporting world that is almost devoid of dynasties.
"Unfortunately, sometimes you appreciate stuff after the fact," Moon said. "The camaraderie was the most important thing of all. We had a lot of guys who tried out who were talented, but didn't fit in.
"Once you get that chemistry going, if guys enjoy it, they'll give up money to stay with that team because it is a family," he said.
In fact, it was not money that drew Moon to the National Football League, which only marginally outbid the Eskimos, who were willing to pay him $900,000 in 1984. Moon was drawn to the NFL because there was nothing left to accomplish in Canada. "The reason I left was because of all the success," Moon said. "With five Cups and the Schenley award in 1983 . . . I had signed a 10-year contract [with Edmonton that included an out clause]to stay, but I never envisioned the success we had."