Scruff Connors

Jeffrey David Newfield (12 May 1952 – 18 December 2016), known as Scruff Connors, was a Canadian radio broadcaster known for conducting controversial on-air practical jokes.

His career included host duties at various radio stations in Canada and the United States. His most prominent work was with Q107 in Toronto, where he became morning host in 1980. After broadcasting in other cities, he returned to Q107 in the early 1990s to join "The Q Morning Zoo". In 1980, after Terry Fox was forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope, Connors responded by raising CAD$72,000 for cancer research by continuously hosting a 36-hour "Scruff-a-thon" on Q107.

Connors conducted a contest in 1989 as an announcer at CHTZ-FM in St. Catharines, Ontario, claiming that the Mayflower would be stationed at a nearby port so that 40 winners would be eligible to have a Thanksgiving meal there. However, what actually appeared was a moving truck from Mayflower Transit.

In January 1995, while working in Winnipeg, Connors was given a week's suspension by CJKR-FM management after he announced a contest where selected listeners could watch Super Bowl XXIX in Miami. 1200 listeners submitted their entries by fax of whom 30 were chosen to meet Connors at Winnipeg International Airport. However, the winners boarded a bus at the airport rather than a plane, and their destination was Miami, Manitoba to watch the game on a monochrome television at Chatterbox Lounge. Connors reacted to the controversy stating "How was I supposed to know Miami was in Florida?"

Controversy In mid-1982, CHUM-FM avoided direct mention of Toronto club venue Scuffers during its entertainment announcements due to its naming resemblance to Scruff Connors at rival station Q107. Scuffers' owners suspended advertising at CHUM-FM because the radio station referred to their club by its address or as "The Cave".

When Connors was working for The Bear (CFBR-FM) in Edmonton in 1992, he was charged with sexual assault in a case that purportedly occurred at a hotel in October 1992. The broadcaster sustained a reported nervous breakdown in October 1995, which he blamed on job stress and uncertainty.

Declining health Connors incurred injuries to his two rotator cuffs, limiting his arm movements.

His last on-air job, at MOJO radio, was terminated in July 2005 when the station changed its format. Within a few months, Connors experienced a pair of heart attacks which required quadruple heart bypass surgery. Later in 2005, doctors discovered that Connors had contracted bladder cancer. In August 2008, a poster to a Canadian radio discussion board posted a rumour that Connors had died the previous evening, but Connors later clarified in an interview with the Toronto Sun that he was still alive and had recently won over $100,000 in a Lotto 6/49 draw.

On 18 December 2016, Newfield unexpectedly died.

Career Connors' work included the following radio stations:

1980 – 1985: Q107, Toronto late 1980s: WYSP, Philadelphia 1989–1992: CHTZ-FM, St. Catharines, Ontario 2001 – July 2005: CFMJ (MOJO), Toronto