Roy Shivers Roy Shivers ( born July 5 , 1941 ) was the General Manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from December 24 , 1999 until August 21 , 2006 ; the first Black general manager in professional football . He was also a former running back in the National Football League with the St . Louis Cardinals . Currently , Shivers is the director of player personnel for the B . C . Lions of the CFL . His early years . Shivers grew up in Oakland , California , in an area known as the projects . He was one of eight children . His father moved the family to the U . S . west coast to get away from the segregated south . Shivers suffered the pains of racism at a young age when he lost out a job to be quarterback for his high school team to a white person . In West Oakland black children were only allowed to play at DeFremery Park , the park could be considered as a national landmark for it has been home some of the best athletes and activists the world has seen . Shivers went to school with Bill Russell , Frank Robinson , Curt Flood , Joe Morgan and Vada Pinson . He also grew up with the founding members of the Black Panthers , Huey Newton , Bobby Seale and David Hilliard . Shivers left Oakland in 1960 to serve in the U . S . Army . Football playing days . In 1964 , after serving four years in the army , Shivers went to Utah State where he became a star running back and then in 1966 was drafted first round in the supplemental draft to the St . Louis Cardinals . Shivers lead the Cardinals in kickoff return yards with 27 for 762 yards with one returned for a touchdown . Coaching and managing . Shivers played for seven years in the NFL before he began coaching at Merritt Junior College in Oakland . He also coached at the University of Nevada , University of Hawaii and University of Nevada , Las Vegas after which he accepted a job as an assistant coach for the B . C . Lions in the CFL . Shivers stayed with the Lions for six seasons and rose through the ranks of the Lions ' front office . In 1985 , the Lions won the Grey Cup . In 1989 , Shivers left for the Calgary Stampeders to become the team ' s U . S . scout . In 1991 , he became the team ' s assistant General Manager . Calgary won the [ Grey Cup in 1992 . In 1995 , Shivers left to become the General Manager of the expansion Birmingham Barracudas , but the team folded after one season , as did the rest of the American expansion teams . Shivers returned to Calgary in 1996 , again as assistant GM . Calgary won the Grey Cup again in 1998 under head coach Wally Buono . Turning around the Roughriders . Shivers became General Manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1999 , with his first two years at the Riders ' helm being a struggle on the field . This was to be expected as Shivers inherited a 3 - 15 team bereft of talent . The Riders also had 3 million dollars of debt ( equal to the amount of credit the team had available to it ) and was financially in dire straits . It was obvious that Shivers had to overhaul the team . Not surprisingly , there was 80 % turnover in the team ' s 1999 starting roster . The only free agent signing with significant CFL experience was Calgary Stampeders backup quarterback Henry Burris . However , the inexperienced defence was the team ' s downfall as it ranked near the bottom of the league in most defensive statistical categories . The Riders posted a 5 wins , 12 losses and 1 tie record and missed the playoffs in their initial rebuilding year . Shivers had publicly proclaimed it would take 3 years to restore the Saskatchewan Roughriders to being an elite CFL team , so fans remained patient . In year 2 of the rebuilding plan , 2001 , the team got off to a rough start . Quarterback Henry Burris left the Riders and signed with the NFL ' s Green Bay Packers , leaving the Riders without a viable quarterback . Although team defence was markedly improved , the offense struggled . The result was another poor record ( 6 wins 12 losses ) and another year out of the playoffs . In 2002 , Shivers made an important trade as the Roughriders ' acquired Edmonton Eskimos starting quarterback Nealon Greene . While not a dominant quarterback by any means , Nealon ' s ability to manage the game and limit mistakes was the finishing spark that helped the Roughriders qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1997 . Since 2002 , the team has eliminated its 3 million dollar debt , aided mostly by hosting the Grey Cup Championship Game , and by the provincial government forgiving over $ 1 million of debt . Nevertheless , rising attendance also played a significant part as Shivers had restored respectability to the Riders which excited the fans to come out in greater numbers . The Riders had also made the playoffs in four straight years , including two Western Division Finals in a row ( 2003 – 2004 ) . However , in the later years of the franchise under Shivers ' helm as GM , the team seemed to hit a wall or ceiling of progress , and their record stagnated instead of improving . Controversies mount and stagnation . Mired in back to back . 500 seasons ( winning percentage - wise ) in the years 2004 and 2005 , the Riders exited the playoffs early and were seen by most fans as not living up to their expectations . Many blamed the coaching , while others pointed their fingers back to when Shivers failed to re - sign Henry Burris , who moved onto success with the rival Calgary Stampeders . This upset many Rider fans greatly , as the Calgary Stampeders ended up rebuilding rapidly , going from being a poor team in the 2004 season to a second place finisher in the Western Conference of the CFL in season 2005 . Rider fans began to voice their displeasure at the time it was taking the Riders to achieve similar goals , like finishing first or second in the West , and hosting a home play off game . This was compounded by starting quarterback , Nealon Greene , becoming increasingly inconsistent in the 2005 season , as Head Coach Danny Barrett dropped him for poor play in favour of Marcus Crandell , their back up quarterback . Discontent grew even further with various off - the - field incidents involving the Rider players during and following the 2005 season . Trevis Smith , a starting Rider linebacker on the defence , was charged with aggravated sexual assault on October 28 , 2005 , accused of having repeated sexual encounters with women , one from Regina , Saskatchewan and one from British Columbia , despite knowingly being HIV - positive . It was one of the biggest controversies and embarrassments ever faced by the Roughriders in their history as it made national headlines from coast to coast . Many people pointed the finger at Shivers once again , whether right or wrong , seeing Shivers as an unwilling figure in instituting a player code of conduct . The naysayers and blamers felt Shivers should have more control over his team ' s behaviour . Shivers defended himself by saying what happened with Smith was a societal problem , not a football one . Further tarnishing the team ' s image was the arrest of Kenton Keith , a Riders running back , for aggravated assault at a Regina nightclub , on July 12 , 2006 . Again , fans and citizens were upset with the Riders and Shivers , and viewed the team as becoming out of control in the community . However , even with a code of conduct for players reportedly in the works and soon forthcoming , others maintain that personal individual responsibility supersedes the control Shivers or any other Riders ' management should have over the players . This is precisely the argument put forward by Shivers , as he views many of these things as societal issues , and not football ones . A mixed record . Shivers ' first major decision as the Riders ' General Manager was to hire his coach Danny Barrett , a man with no prior CFL head coaching experience , or head coaching experience at any level . " The one thing I did right was ( hire ) Danny Barrett . He ' s a good young black coach . Most of our guys are young black kids . We ' ve got a head coach our people like to play for , " Shivers said . Shivers had been known to speak his mind on issues facing his team and was not afraid to criticize players when he perceived a lack of effort or poor play . This served to motivate the team often . One situation which some fans view as controversial in Shivers ' tenure is his failed negotiations with quarterback Henry Burris . Burris was a free agent in the spring of 2005 after the team narrowly lost the Western Final to the BC Lions the previous November . Burris was uncomfortable with the then back - up quarterback Nealon Greene remaining on the roster . He wanted a commitment to be named the clear starting quarterback for the Riders . Despite being offered the richest contract in club history at the time , Burris chose to accept a more lucrative offer from the Calgary Stampeders . It was never clear if Burris was actually promised the starting quarterbacking position with the Riders , as many contradictory statements were made regarding this matter . Burris also maintained that the Riders offered him less money than Shivers had publicly stated . Many point to the failure to re - sign Burris , rightly or wrongly , as being the beginning of the end for Shivers as the general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders . Fired by the Saskatchewan Roughriders . Shivers was fired by the Saskatchewan Roughriders ' board of directors as there was a concern that the Riders had regressed , a lack of progress was being made in signing players who would be free agents in 2007 to extensions , plus Shivers was not comfortable with the new power structure of the Riders to be implemented in 2007 . At the time of his firing , the board of directors , led by the President and CEO Jim Hopson , openly expressed their displeasure at the lack of progress on thirteen soon - to - be Rider free agents not being signed for the 2007 season . In total , 30 Riders were about to enter the option years of their contracts in season 2007 , with not one of them signed to future contracts halfway into the 2006 season . Many balked at this statement , however , as other CFL teams also had a large number of players going into their option years in season 2007 . However , alarm bells were also being sounded as the Riders were also committed to $ 4 . 5 million in salary , well over the new $ 3 . 8 million salary cap to be instituted by the CFL in 2007 . With Shivers publicly refusing to accept forthcoming changes for the 2007 season in the Rider power structure , a clash was bound to happen . Hopson , the board of directors agreed , would be given powers that would supersede Shivers in the organization . Shivers went on record in April 2006 as saying that he would not work for Hopson as he did not trust or like him . " I told them in April that I would not work for Hopson , " Shivers told the " Regina Leader - Post " on the Monday after being informed of the club ' s decision to have Hopson supersede him . " I can work with him , but I can ' t work for him because I dislike him and I don ' t trust him . " Thus , Shivers was fired from his post as general manager , with the board unanimous in its decision to fire Shivers . Summation of Shivers ' time with the Riders . Shivers took over a terrible 3 - 15 team that had had the worst record in the league over the previous decade and after a two year rebuilding period led the team to the playoffs in five straight years , and to the Western Final in three of his last four years . His overall record was 52 wins , 64 losses , and 1 tie . Many fans label this as mediocre as it is below a . 500 winning percentage while others believe that the team ' s struggles in the first two years were predictable based on a " cleaning house " by Shivers . As is often the case when overhauling a team , growing pains and losses ensue early on in the hopes of building a consistent winning team . Despite his below . 500 record while on his general managership watch with the Riders , it is a widely held belief that Shivers did help restore respectability to Riders football , both on the field and at the attendance gate . The previous Riders ' regime was an abysmal 3 wins and 15 losses football team , floundering financially and on the field . Shivers definitely helped right the Riders ship , but the team failed to meet expectations in the end winnings - wise . Shivers helped rescue the team from a terrible dearth of talent and financial plight , but then the team began to be perceived as chronic underachievers as it seemed to stagnate and not be able to press onto the next level . The various players ' off - the - field controversies coupled further with a perceived power struggle with the CEO Jim Hopson and the board of directors , reached a critical boiling point and Shivers was being fired from his duties as the Riders general manager . Although Shivers was fired on August 21 , 2006 , the Riders board of directors claim the decision had already been made on August 18 , 2006 . During his era as Riders ' general manager , Shivers lived part - time in Regina , the home of the Roughriders during the season . B . C . Lions . On January 28 , 2008 , Shivers was hired as the director of player personnel for the B . C . Lions . This reunites him with Lions GM / Head Coach Wally Buono , with whom he worked during their tenure with the Calgary Stampeders in the 1990s . Personal . In the off - season , Shivers lives in Henderson , Nevada . He has been married to Carol Brown for 39 years . They have three daughters ( Rommy , Renne and Nicole ) , a grandson ( Nicholas ) and a granddaugher ( Nico ) .