The fourth Earl Grey and governor-general of Canada, Albert Henry George Grey, was 58 when he donated Canada's most famous sporting trophy. His birth at St. James's Palace in London, England, in November of 1851, was a harbinger of things to come, since most Grey Cup games are played around that date. In fact, the game has been played eight times on his birthday, November 28.Grey served as governor-general from 1904 to 1911, a period of strained relations between his government and that of Sir Wilfred Laurier. He was a charming diplomat and a genuine friend of Canadian interests. Known more as a patron of the arts — particularly music and drama — than a sportsman, he probably never saw a Canadian football game, despite the fact its greatest prize carries his name.The Grey Cup has been forgotten in a basement, lost, found, stolen, recovered, and was almost burnt beyond recognition in a 1947 fire at the Toronto Rowing Club.

The original resides in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton. The Canadian Football League, like the Cup awarded annually to its champion, has also been at death's door more times than one can count. But, against all odds, the CFL continues to entertain and enthral Canadians from coast to coast. The league was able to survive its greatest crises and live through its darkest moments because of the Grey Cup game, Canada's single most popular sporting event.