Jacob Gill Gaudaur Jr

Jacob Gill (Jake) Gaudaur Jr, OC, football player, executive, commissioner (born 5 October 1920 in Orillia, ON; died 4 December 2007 in Burlington, ON).

Jacob Gill (Jake) Gaudaur Jr, OC, football player, executive, commissioner (born 5 October 1920 in Orillia, ON; died 4 December 2007 in Burlington, ON). An all-round athlete, he was a prominent oarsman and an accomplished lacrosse player in his youth. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and played football with the champion Toronto RCAF-Hurricanes (1942). He continued playing after the Second World War, finally joining the Hamilton Tigers in 1948. He was captain of the club from 1950 and centre on the 1953 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Grey Cup championship team.

From 1954 to 1968, he was president and general manager of the Tiger-Cats. He also played an unofficial role for the Canadian Football League (CFL), selling TV rights and negotiating an agreement with the US National Football League to honour each league's contracts. In April 1968 he was appointed commissioner of the CFL, a position he held to 1984.