Introducing Ulysses “Crazy Legs” Curtis: a trailblazing Toronto Argonaut running back, much-loved educator, and local hero.

Curator and artist Danilo Deluxo has transformed the former Downsview Fire Station into a canvas that celebrates the impact and achievements of this admirable man. 

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Ulysses Curtis joined the Argos in 1950, becoming their first full-time Black player. Even 70 years later, he remains the greatest Argo running back of all time. He also helped win two Grey Cups in his five seasons with the Argos and stood up to considerable racial animosity.

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Upon his retirement from football in 1954, Curtis started a new career, working with young people in the Downsview community. He became one of the first Black teachers at the North York Board of Education and spent thirty years teaching physical education, geography, and history at various North York high schools, including Downsview Secondary School, where he also worked as a guidance counsellor, football coach, and race-relations supervisor.

Ulysses Curtis died in Toronto in 2013 at the age of 87 but his legacy lives on in Downsview and with this mural. 

In September 2021, Danilo Deluxo’s mural of Ulysses Curtis was unveiled in the presence of members of the Curtis family, Toronto’s Mayor, and the Argo’s General Manager, Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons.

Mayor John Tory, Public Remarks, 

Sept 24, 2021