Albrecht, J.I.,

Famous for telling it like it is, doing whatever he could, whenever he could for his friends and family, and chewing on an ever present cigar but never smoking one, passed away in peace while still wishing he could have done a little more for us all on March 11, 2008 in Toronto. Born in St. James New York on Feb 15, 1931 J.I. Albrecht was preceded in death by his father Herman and mother Sadie, wife Katherine Logan and beloved son Roderick . J.I. is survived by his forever loved ex wife Anna Albrecht, his dear sons Hunter and Dean and their wives Tracey and Terri and his beautiful grandchildren Tyler, James, Savannah, and Haley. J.I. graduated from Georgia Military College and began his career in football after losing an eye in college and choosing the closest thing to war, which was football which then became his life’s calling. His career of helping others realize their dreams in sports and in life spanned over 5 decades and began after attending Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and GMC at the University of Tennessee as a 19 year old kid under Gen. Robert Neyland. He then went on to work for several NCAA teams working as a recruiter and assistant coach building a loyal network that rivaled any modern day rolodex in pro football history. He then moved onto the pros working for the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, LA Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and the New England Patriots. In the CFL he served as General Manager for the Grey Cup winning Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts and also worked for the Shreveport Pirates and the Ottawa Rough Riders. He made an attempt to bring a CFL Franchise to the Maritimes, a place that always held a special place for him. Never afraid of a challenge he didn’t stop at trying to only create an expansion franchise in the pros. He even started a new CIAU football team at the University College of Cape Breton where he fielded just 21 players and imported his life long friend George Brancato and his coaching staff of one to compete against some of the top college football teams in the country. In the pros he recruited many great and future hall of famers including Wally Buono, Larry Smith, Junior Ah You, Gordon Judges, Steve Smear, Dan Yochum, Ed George, John Huard, Wonderful Monds, Anthony Davis, Johnny Rodgers, Coach Marv Levy and Mike Clemons, and too many others to mention. A man he called the toughest player he had ever known and one of his best friends whom he considered a son, carved him a custom helmut plaque out of wood inscribed, JI, eye in the sky, others said he was a man who saw more with one eye than most did with two. He was quick to laugh and quick to cry. Known as anything but unemotional. Recently, after a lifetime of telling people his name were just initials he finally told his friend Earl MacRae, what it stood for and our family and his friends couldn’t agree more, the initials he was known by J.I., actually stood for Just Incredible. J.I. Albrecht, one of a kind, will be truly missed. A celeberation of his colourful life will be held at the G.H. Hogle Funeral Home “Mimico Chapel”, 63 Mimico Ave., Etobicoke on Friday March 14th from 2 until service at 4 p.m. with reception to follow. Condolences and memories of J.I. may be left at www.hoglefuneralhomes.com