York Hentschel was a Grey Cup

Grey Cup

The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...

 champion defensive lineman with the Edmonton Eskimos

Edmonton Eskimos

The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

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As a member of the famed "Alberta Crude" defence, Hentschel won 3 Grey Cups with the Eskimos (1978 to 1980). Many felt that his skills were under-appreciated because he played next to three all-stars: Dave Fennell

Dave Fennell

Dave Fennell is a former defensive lineman for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1973, he played for Edmonton from 1974–83, and helped lead the team to five straight Grey Cup championships from 1978-82 as a key member of...

, Ron Estay

Ron Estay

Ron Estay is a former defensive lineman for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. After graduating from Louisiana State University in 1972, he was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 8th round of the 1972 NFL Draft...

 and David Boone

David Boone

David Boone was an All-Star Canadian Football League defensive lineman, winner of 5 Grey Cups.-Rookie Year:Boone graduated from Eastern Michigan University and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings...

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He finished his career in 1981 playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...

 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...

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Hentschel took an improbable route to pro football. Having played 2 years of junior football with the Red Deer Packers and having played at Drake University

Drake University

Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....

, he was discovered by Edmonton coach Ray Jauch

Ray Jauch

Ray Jauch was a coach in the Canadian Football League, USFL, and the Arena Football League.A star high school athlete, Jauch played running back for the 1958 National Champion University of Iowa Hawkeyes, leading the nation in yards per carry. He played in the 1959 Rose Bowl against California...

 while working as a lifeguard in Miami, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

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He was admired and respected by his teammates. A man of few words, Tom Wilkinson

Tom Wilkinson

Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Wilkinson, OBE is a British actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton...

 said: "In all the time he was here, I don't know if he said 20 words." He died of organ failure in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

 in March 2006. On November 19, 2008, the CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 show The Fifth Estate

The fifth estate

the fifth estate is a Canadian television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language CBC Television network. The name is a play on the fact that the media are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into...

suggested that Hentschel, who went through years of alcohol and drug abuse and depression, suffered from the effects of years of unreported head injuries from playing professional football. Teammates David Boone

David Boone

David Boone was an All-Star Canadian Football League defensive lineman, winner of 5 Grey Cups.-Rookie Year:Boone graduated from Eastern Michigan University and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings...

 and Bill Stevenson are believe to have suffered from the same injuries.