Lew Hayman Lewis Edward " Lew " Hayman ( September 30 , 1908 – June 29 , 1984 ) was an American sports figure . He was one of the driving forces behind the Canadian Football League as coach , general manager , team president , and league president . As head coach , he was a five - time Grey Cup winner with three different teams . Hayman was a pioneer in bringing African Americans into the CFL , hiring one of professional football ' s first Black player , Herb Trawick and coach Willie Wood . Early years . Hayman was born in New York City and grew up in Paterson , New Jersey . He attended New York Military Academy and was a star basketball player at Syracuse University , where he was a three - year starter and named College Humor third team All - American in 1931 . He also played for the Syracuse football team . Moves to Canada . After graduating , Hayman moved to Canada in 1932 to become assistant coach of the University of Toronto football team under Warren Stevens . He was soon also hired as an assistant to coach Buck McKenna with the Toronto Argonauts football team . When McKenna took ill during the 1932 season , Hayman became interim head coach . He was given the job outright for the 1933 season and , at the age of 25 , guided the Argonauts to a Grey Cup championship . He followed that with back - to - back Grey Cup wins in 1937 and 1938 . With World War II escalating , the major Canadian football leagues halted operations following the 1941 season and Hayman joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a flying officer . He was made coach of Toronto ' s RCAF football team and led the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes to the 1942 Grey Cup championship . He was discharged after the war , having reached the rank of flight lieutenant . Hayman thought he had an agreement with the Argonauts to return as head coach when play resumed in 1945 , but the deal fell through and Ted Morris was hired instead . That left Hayman with bitter feelings toward his former team — which admitted that they had misled him — and Hayman had to settle for a job as coach of the Toronto Indians football team . One of the members of the Indians was future CFL commissioner Jake Gaudaur , who had also played under Hayman in the RCAF . Forms the Montreal Alouettes . The following season , Hayman partnered with Eric Cradock and Leo Dandurand to form the Montreal Alouettes CFL team , with Hayman as head coach and general manager , as well as part - owner . In his first season , he broke the league ' s color barrier by signing Herb Trawick , an African American lineman . Other innovations introduced by the Alouettes under Hayman were playing night games , scheduling games on Sundays , and allowing games to be televised . During the off - season in 1946 , Hayman became general manager of the Toronto Huskies professional basketball team , the first Canadian - based team in what evolved into the National Basketball Association ( known at the time as the Basketball Association of America ) . When the team ' s first coach quit a month into the season , Hayman took his place for one game , and is in the record books as having been an NBA coach for that single game . The Huskies disbanded after one money - losing season . Hayman led the Alouettes to their first Grey Cup in 1949 — Hayman ' s fifth and final Grey Cup as head coach . Following the 1951 season , Hayman stepped down as coach but continued as general manager until the end of the 1954 season , when he sold his share of the Alouettes and moved back to Toronto to become a stockbroker . Returns to the Argonauts . Hayman ' s career outside of football was short - lived , as he became managing director of the Argonauts in 1956 . Despite his previous success as head coach , the Argonauts were largely reduced to being Eastern Conference doormats through this period , finishing last in their division nine times in 11 years from 1956 to 1966 before returning to respectability . During that time , Hayman also became team president . He was elected president of the CFL in 1969 and served a one - year term . After John Barrow was made general manager of the Argonauts in 1972 , Hayman was given the title of executive consultant . He was planning to retire when the season ended , but was persuaded by owner John Bassett to sign a three - year contract as team president , followed by 10 years as vice - chairman and director . Hayman again became president of the Argonauts in 1979 and remained in that role until he was succeeded by Ralph Sazio during the 1981 season . He died in 1984 at age 75 . Hayman was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975 . The CFL award presented to the outstanding Canadian player in the East Division is called the Lew Hayman Trophy . In 2004 , he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame .