The Canadian Football League Hall of Fame induction ceremony marks a time for happiness and a strong sense of pride for all involved.
One player who will be posthumously recognized is former Winnipeg Blue Bombers wide receiver and defensive back, Ernie Pitts. Over a 13-year professional career, he helped lead the team to four championships after opting for the CFL over the NFL in 1957. Then-Bombers head coach Bud Grant received a tip from a scout regarding Pitts, and Grant (later the Hall of Fame head coach for the Minnesota Vikings) moved quickly to sign the University of Denver alum. The San Francisco 49ers also selected Pitts, but he’d made up his mind.
While the Pitts family certainly relates to a feeling of pride for his accomplishments, the day will also be riddled with mixed emotions.
Daughter Tanya and son Ernie will reflect on the lessons their father taught them and all of the feats they witnessed, but will also remember one painful time that would cause them to grow up faster than they imagined.
In 1970 at his home in Brighton, Colorado, Pitts was shot by his wife, Ethel. He died in Tanya’s arms
Tanya describes the night of her father’s death as one that started with confusion and escalated quickly before it ended in great tragedy.
“Of course, us kids, we thought he was here to celebrate my birthday and just be with us,” she remembers. “We were all sitting around the dinner table. I had cooked dinner, and they got in a big argument and then they finally told us that they were separating, and we didn’t know what that really meant. My dad asked where we wanted to live, because my dad was going to be moving to California to pursue a theater or Hollywood dream of being an actor with Jim Brown. Our other choice was to stay with my mom in Denver, and of course we all said ‘Nope, we’ll just go to California with our dad.’
“That night was a very tumultuous night, and basically when my mom shot my dad, it was a turning point in my life. I went into shock, I went into immediately protecting my brother and sisters.”
After that evening, Tanya attended a football game with her friends. While she felt a wave of negative emotions, she was also left with a very positive takeaway.
“The very next day, I was in a football stadium, and I’m sitting there in the stands just watching and just thinking, ‘God, that was my dad.’ It was surreal, and I literally heard a voice, audibly just saying that this is going to shape my life in a way that’s going to help lots of people and that’s the message I heard. At that point, I became even more protective, not only of myself, but of my family.”
Her mother was sent to jail for murder in this time frame and was later found innocent in one of the first United States cases of a murder acquittal due to a battered woman defense. Ethel was reunited with her children.
As one can imagine, Tanya had to become an adult much earlier than most. She says she grew up in what she calls a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ family that appeared harmonious and popular on the outside before her father’s death, but had a lot of trauma, abuse and turmoil under the surface.
“I grew up very early. I cooked dinner, I did all the things, ordered food, went grocery shopping, all the things my mom would have done. But, I did it instead. I was trained to do it, obviously. I watched my mom and then my aunt and my uncles, so I learned at a very early age to do that.”
She also learned lessons of leadership and conducting herself from her father’s high level of fame as a child.
“My dad was very famous. We never went anywhere that my dad didn’t give autographs. We grew up with lots of people, lots of parties, a lot of entertaining. Of course, I grew up with that as well. So, I had lots of friends, was very social.”
After he was gone, she learned a lot of things about who she was at her core and recognized the choices in life she had to make that were fully in her control.
“Never give up. Stand in truth. Be real with what is. One of the lessons I’ve learned over the years is that I pretended a lot. I thought that was a survival technique. I pretended that things were okay when things weren’t okay. That’s how we were wired. We kept lots of secrets people didn’t know about, and that’s really not the way to live your life.”
She also notes her faith as something that helped her to get through such a trying era.
“The lesson is to really speak truth, be your authentic self and the other piece in all this is that I have a great faith base. I know that God helped me through all this in many, many ways by sending me people and resources for me to really learn from and respect and honor over the years.”
Aside from what she’s learned from being a victim of a tragedy, she also reflects on the shift in football she’s seen between the decades of the 60s and 70s to now. The complications surrounding Ernie’s death seem to be in the past.
“The entire family is elated,” Tanya said of the induction. “There will be a total of 36 family members from two generations attending including grandchildren. Ernie, Sr. did set a tremendous positive example during a different time. He provided many special moments for his children off the field which has resulted in the development of our personal and professional happiness.”
In the past, stars like Jets quarterback Joe Namath lived extravagant lifestyles filled with fancy cars, beautiful women and the spotlight. Pitts enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle in his own way.
“Football was just coming into its own when my dad played. There was the race issue, you know, blacks and whites living together. Getting along together and becoming good friends. The football industry has shifted in recognizing that it’s not just about the players,” Tanya said. “It’s now about a family unit, and that family equals community. In the past, I believe it was really just about the players. Protecting the players, making sure the players get all the things that they need. Putting them on a pedestal, things like that, while the families were pretty much on the sidelines. Today, it’s much more inclusive. The players, even though they still are put on pedestals, the public is holding players accountable for their actions way more than they used to.”
Her brother sees a similar trend.
“In early times, I feel like players pretty much controlled what they wanted to do. They were stars. The people that others look up to. Now, people are more conscious of what the rules are and the regulations in place and can avoid some of the mistakes of the past.”
Today, Ernie Jr. and Tanya have built successful careers.
Tanya works as a business coach, helping victims of domestic, emotional and physical abuse, while her brother is a respected restauranteur in Atlanta who staffs his business with underprivileged teenagers he serves as a mentor to.
As they move forward, though, they keep their father’s undying sense of passion and what they’ve learned close to them.
“Even in my sixties, that day and those memories will always be with me,” Tanya says. “But it’s also shaped me to be a much more compassionate, empathetic, loving person. Hate brings hate, and love brings love. For me, it’s making that choice in helping people to really decide to stand for truth and authenticity. I think there’s so much tragedy that happens to people, and I was thrust into that, My mom brought me into that situation. She had me watch it. There are many things that people do that are thrust upon you. You’re basically, at that point, a victim. The lesson there is to not stay a victim and understand you are a part of the story, but that wasn’t your story. You get to choose.”
His son believes that even after death, his father’s ability to persevere lives on.
“He overcame quite a few things. Even to this day, I feel like his perseverance continues even now. Just because it took so long for him to get the recognition he deserves.”
The CFL Hall of Fame ceremony will take place at Tim Hortons Field on Aug. 9. Doors are set to open at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the ceremony beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET
