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I have seldom witnessed the awakenings of athletic greatness. But I can say that I was there the first time Jamie Bone lined up behind the centre in a football game and took a snap as quarterback. He scored six touchdowns that day against my Peewee football team on a field in Halifax. “Mostly I just ran bootlegs,” recalled Bone, who had spent the previous season as an undistinguished lineman and defensive back for the same west end Halifax squad. Quarterback was a different story. Bone learned the rudiments of his craft in the Halifax minor football system and at Saint Mary’s University’s Summer Camp of Champions. By the time he was ready for high school the signs that he was something special were already there.

There was an early bump in the road. Back in 1971 Bone’s local school Halifax West had no football program. Demonstrating the kind of resourcefulness that would serve him well on the playing field, he asked Saint Mary’s Huskies football standout Frank Yakimchuk if he could use his mailing address –within the Queen Elizabeth High School catchment area– allowing him to suit up for Bob Douglas’ Lions. At QEH he started every game at quarterback in grade 10, during which he was a provincial all-star.

The following year, he had an epiphany when offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Doug Quackenbush questioned his practice work ethic. “From that day forward I always tried to be first in every drill,” he said. “Doug was the man who showed me that hard work can lead to great success.” The ensuing years are proof of that. Bone led the Lions to a provincial championship in 1973 and twice was a league all-star. At Acadia University, he broke his wrist in a pre-season exhibition game, but still managed to quarterback the team to the first undefeated season in the school’s history.

Transferring to the University of Western Ontario, Bone followed in the footsteps of fellow Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame member Bill Robinson. There he hit his stride, leading the Mustangs to back-to-back national championships in 1976 and ’77, in both cases over his old teammates at Acadia. Bone threw four touchdown passes in the 1977 contest, a game which was memorable to him for another reason: five former teammates from QEH’s provincial championship team took the field for Acadia. “Six players from a single team playing for the national title,” he said. “Truly a testament to the great program we had at QEH.” So was his performance the following season even though the defending Vanier Cup champs were upset in the provincial final. For his exploits, he was awarded the 1978 Hec Crighton Award as the outstanding collegiate football player in the country, the only Nova Scotian-born player to ever be so honoured

The accolades didn’t end there. Twice he helmed the Canadian squad against the best players in the United States during the Can-Am Bowl. Canada lost 20-7 in the first game—“not the 100-0 score some were predicting”—and in the second contest were leading late in the second quarter, before ultimately falling Short. “That game proved to many Canadians that we were not that far away from a talent perspective,” said Bone, “and we could play with the Americans.” Being drafted by the Hamilton Tiger Cats gave him another chance to prove he could play with anyone.The problem was the Canadian Football League’s “designated import rule” which in a practical sense made it virtually impossible for a Canadian to play quarterback in the league. So, Bone challenged the rule in court, and won even though he knew it meant the end of his CFL dreams.

By then his prowess had caught the eye of National Football League scouts. In 1980 he became the first Canadian to sign a contract with an NFL team, the iconic Dallas Cowboys. “To be working with coaches like Tom Landry, Dan Reeves, and Mike Ditka was second to none,” he recalled. “It really showed me how a professional organization was run, not just in terms of the logistics of the organization, but by how they treated people–with professionalism and respect. They gave me a great opportunity that I will always cherish.”

When his playing days ended Bone found ways to pass on his knowledge of the game. He became a longtime broadcaster with TSN, and coached at the high school and university level, including as the QB coach for his old Western Mustangs, whom he helped win another Vanier cup in 2017. Through his QB Nation instructional program he has helped train a generation of quarterbacks in Canada and the United States. A fitting legacy for one of the greatest quarterbacks of his own generation.

 

**Written by John DeMont, columnist for The Chronicle Herald.**