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After three years in the Canadian Football League, Ebell became a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, seemingly the epitome of a high school and college football hero giving back to his community.

“Rhoda was my mentor, and always encouraged me. Friends for 79 years,” said Wheeler, a 1956 Olympic downhill bronze medalist who married Canadian Football League Hall of Famer Kaye Vaughan.

Those teams were in major cities, the fast-paced, hyperviolent games were regularly televised on ESPN, and the players had a plausible shot at climbing their way into bigger leagues, like the Canadian Football League or even the NFL.

Tanenbaum also is the chairman and a minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Toronto sports giant that also owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs and NBA’s Raptors along with Toronto’s MLS and Canadian Football League franchises.

Stiggers is a native of Atlanta but played last fall with Toronto of the Canadian Football League and is draft eligible and played in the East-West Shrine game.