Mike Wadsworth

Michael A. "Mike" Wadsworth (June 4, 1943 - April 28, 2004) was an all-star Canadian Football League defensive lineman, and later lawyer, QC, Canadian Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, business executive, and television sports analyst.

Mike Wadsworth, one of six siblings born to Bernard "Bunny" and Catherine (née Kehoe) Wadsworth, played high school football at De La Salle College (Toronto) before attending the University of Notre Dame on a football scholarship. Despite knee injuries, he won a monogram as a defensive tackle in 1964, and played in the league from 1966-70, during which time he earned his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

Upon graduation, Wadsworth joined the Toronto Argonauts for a five-year career, winning the Gruen Trophy as the best rookie in the East in 1966 and named an All-Star in 1968. He also served as president of the CFL players' union. After his football days, he became a lawyer and QC. He was a football analyst on the CFL on CTV broadcasts. He was appointed Canadian Ambassador to Ireland in 1989 and named athletic director at Notre Dame in 1995. He served as an executive with Crownx, Inc.

His father starred for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1940 and was voted to their half-century team in 1960.

Death

Mike Wadsworth died of bone and bladder cancer, aged 60, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He was survived by his mother (Catherine), his wife (Bernadette), three daughters, and four siblings, and a large extended family.

See also

• Bernard Wadsworth