Brian McCurdy shares in a rich family history of success in Windsor athletics.

The son of University of Windsor professor, former Member of Parliament and respected track coach Howard McCurdy, the younger McCurdy was a two-sport star throughout high school and university before playing professional football.  

A ball-hawking defensive back, he was the Toronto Argonauts’ first pick of the 1993 Canadian Football League draft.  McCurdy split his second season between the Argonauts and the Ottawa Rough Riders and in 1995 he played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

He appeared in 42 games – 26 as a starter – and recorded 86 tackles, six fumble recoveries, two sacks and an interception.

In high school, McCurdy was undefeated as a starting quarterback for W.D. Lowe and in 1983, led the Trojans to the school’s only junior football championship.  He later quarterbacked Massey to a city title at the senior level.

Like his sister Linda, who competed in the Commonwealth Games, McCurdy learned the finer points of high jumping from his father.  Between 1988-1992, he was ranked among the top 10 high jumpers by Canada Athletics.  

McCurdy competed in both track and football for California’s Riverside Community College before moving on to Northern Arizona University for one season.

At Riverside CC, McCurdy was the Orange County Conference champion in high jump in 1989 and as the starting nickel back, Riverside’s football team went undefeated in winning conference, state and national championships.

At Northern Arizona, he won the high jump at the 1992 Big Sky Conference outdoor championships and was runner-up at the indoor meet. He was named to the All-Big Sky indoor and outdoor track and field conference teams as NAU also claimed both the indoor and outdoor championships.  

In football, he recorded 96 tackles on the season and earned all-conference honors in 1992 and was Big Sky athlete of the week following a monster game against the University of Idaho where he had 16 tackles and a pick six.

Since retiring as a player, McCurdy has coached extensively on both sides of the Windsor/Detroit border, including being on staff with Wayne State University when they won the NCAA D2 Regional championship and reached the national final. He has also participated in the CFL’s minority coaching program.

McCurdy now takes his place in the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.