This year’s version of the B.C. Lions came within a few seconds of advancing to the 2025 Grey Cup. While desperately clinging to a lead in the dying seconds, the defence allowed the Saskatchewan Roughriders to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

“Unfortunately both the offence and defence broke down at the end,” said Don Vicic, who knows the Canadian Football League, and specifically the B.C. Lions, very well since, at age 90, he is the oldest surviving member of the first Lions team to win the Grey Cup in 1964.

Another thing Vicic knows and loves very well is his Catholic faith.

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Born in Euclid, Ohio, Vicic pursued basketball and track, but he excelled in football. He had a very successful college career at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes, which led to him receiving an offer from the Lions to play north of the border.

While he had no knowledge of Canada, Vicic accepted the offer and ended up playing eight years in Vancouver, from 1957 through the 1964 championship season. 

Although he was raised Catholic, his faith, like that of many athletes, became lukewarm in college and later almost non-existent.

He met his Catholic wife, Ausma, on a return flight after a Lions game. They eventually married and had a son and a daughter. He still was not practising his faith, however.

After Vicic’s football career ended, he began a very successful career in wealth management. Two of his clients were evangelical Protestants who convinced him to attend a Billy Graham event in town. Soon after, he joined an Evangelical church for four years, but something was missing.

At that time, a very good Catholic friend, George O’Leary, encouraged Vicic to revisit his Catholic faith. The rest is history and a testament to how all of us as Catholics can impact those around us through both actions and words.

Fr. Peter Mallon, who later became Bishop of Nelson, heard Vicic’s confession at St. Anthony’s in West Vancouver, helping him begin his journey of faith. Besides Mallon and O’Leary, he credits Msgr. Gregory Smith, now vicar general, and St. Pope John Paul II for his continued growth in the faith.

“When I returned to my Catholic faith I believed the key was to have a personal relationship with Jesus,” he said. 

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That relationship helped him to better know and love Christ’s Church and the truth of its teachings.

The former football star also said that when he came back to the faith, he described himself as somewhat of an evangelical Catholic. He became involved with CCO, Alpha and Proclaim. 

“If I had known Jesus 25 years earlier my life would have been better.”

There were some strengths from football that Vicic was able to apply to business and faith as well. Simple hard work was something his father taught him, and that he was well known for in his playing days, and the same principle goes for the faith life of any committed Catholic. Complacency is not an option, instead being proactive every day about growing in holiness, knowledge of faith and prayer.

Another football strength that applies to the faith life is knowing your opponent’s patterns. We too must know where we are most tempted and have a game plan that includes regular confession.

“Every day I say many times ‘Glory to God’ and ‘Thanks be to God,’ ” he said, simple aspirations that are very valuable in building our relationship with God and in finding true happiness.  

He counts among his greatest blessings Ausma, his wife of 64 years, saying, “She made me a winner.” A book he once read by Arthur Brooks encouraged making a list of the gifts others bring into one’s life, and he returns to that list often when it comes to Ausma, who is in particular need of prayers after a recent health setback. 

When Vicic retired 15 years ago, he planned on relaxing completely, but once again O’Leary influenced him. 

“He told me that if I don’t stay active I will be dead in a year. He told me to list four goals that I want to accomplish in the following five years.”

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Vicic made that list and has stuck to it, thoroughly enjoying his life since. The first thing he listed was to “build his relationship with Jesus.”

Vicic has known success on and off the football field and stands as an example of someone who never gave up on his Catholic faith, continuing to deepen his personal relationship with Jesus. His journey is also a reminder of how faith can sustain a person through both triumphs and challenges.