Arguably on of British Columbia’s most talented young football players of the 1950’s, Steve Cotter was a reluctant star in his early days on the gridiron.
The Vancouver native was not drawn to the game early on, but adopted the sport primarily because his friends encouraged him to join them on the King Edward High School squad. Under the tutelage of legendary coach Lorne Cullen, Steve quickly developed into “one of best linemen I ever coached.”
Steve excelled at the guard position but may have been even better suited to play the tight-end spot, a position his coach later admitted he could have played professionally.
He was part of two championship teams at King Edward in 1956 and 1957 before moving on to join the Vancouver Blue Bombers in 1958 where he was part of another BC championship team.
Steve received a scholarship in 1959 and played for Wenatchee Junior College before returning to Vancouver in 1960 to join the BC Lions where he spent six year including the organization’s first Grey Cup championship season in 1964. He finished his playing days in Edmonton playing the 1966 and 1967 seasons as well as the 1969 campaign with the Eskimos.
