Les Ascott’s tremendous football career began with a handshake.

Don Wasson, chairman of the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame, recalled Mr. Ascott telling him that story during a function for the organization.

Frank Clair, the manager of the Argos, called Mr. Ascott into his office one day and said he wanted to talk to him about his contract.

This was in the early 1950s. Mr. Ascott had been playing for the Toronto Argos since 1940.

But Clair couldn’t find it. At that point, Wasson said, Mr. Ascott told his boss that he never signed one.

“Les said, ‘I never, ever had a contract. We just had a handshake,’” Wasson recalled.

It was an act of good faith that helped define who Les Ascott was.

Mr. Ascott died Thursday at age 91.

“I can’t think of anyone who didn’t think the world of Les,” Wasson said.

The Peterborough native started playing football at Peterborough Collegiate in the 1930s and played one season with the Peterborough Orfuns in 1939 before moving to the big leagues.

Ascott toiled for the Argos in a career that ran from 1940 to 1941 and from 1945 to 1953. He took a mid-career break to serve in the Navy when the CFL shut down during the Second World War.

Mr. Ascott spent his first 11 years playing either guard or tackle on both offence and defence. When the CFL introduced platooning in 1951, Mr. Ascott stuck to defence.

He helped bring Toronto three consecutive Grey Cups in 1945 through 1947 and two more in 1950 and 1952. He also served as team captain.

The Argos retired his No. 52 during a ceremony in October 2004 and Mr. Ascott was named an All-Time Argonaut. His name is also etched on the Wall of Honour at the Rogers Centre.

Mr. Ascott wasn’t a man to brag, Wasson said. He didn’t elaborate on his great achievements. He was a well-respected athlete and person, Wasson said.

He and his wife were great supporters of the Hall of Fame, he said, and made themselves available for functions.

Former Argo teammate John Fedosoff played football with Mr. Ascott from 1952 until Ascott retired.

An Ennismore resident, Fedosoff would occasionally run into Mr. Ascott at events.

“He was a hell of a lineman,” Fedosoff said. “He was a great player.”

The two played football together in an era where CFL players held second jobs in order to make ends meet. Mr. Ascott, Fedosoff said, worked at a brewery.

Following his career with the Argos Mr. Ascott continued to work at a Toronto-based brewery. He retired from that job in 1982 and returned to Peterborough. He and his wife often made the trip to the Rogers Centre for Argos home games.

NOTES: Visitation is Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Nisbett Funeral Home, 600 Monaghan Rd. S., where the memorial service is Wednesday at 11 a.m…. Memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer Society.

sarah.deeth@sunmedia.ca