1950 (76 years ago)
With the return of Tom Clavin’s signed contract, the Ottawa Rough Riders will reach their quota of seven imports. The others are Paul Gibson, Bill Stanton, Andy Gordon, Eddie Michaels, John Wagoner and Howie Turner.
1953 (73 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders signed quarterback George Gilmartin, from Xavier University, to a tryout contract. They also re-signed outside wing Matt Anthony and halfback Bob Rumball.
1957 (69 years ago)
Lansdowne Park will have 1,000 new bleacher seats added for the new season bringing the park’s capacity to 17,000.
1961 (65 years ago)
Bob Simpson, Kaye Vaughan and Angelo Mosca signed their 1961 contracts with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Simpson will play in his 11th season with the club, while Vaughan returns for his ninth season in Ottawa.
1962 (64 years ago)
New Assistant Coach and Fulltime Scout, Don Branby, met with Ottawa Rough Riders’ Head Coach Frank Clair to prepare for the opening of training camp on July 3.
1963 (63 years ago)
Dave Sprague, Ottawa Rough Riders running back/defensive tackle from 1933 to 1940, was elected as a Player to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Others named were former Governor-General Earl Grey and D. Wes Brown, an executive with the Rough Riders for many years.
1963 (63 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders lost to Third Signal Regiment, 11-2, in a softball game at Strathcona Park. Joe Poirier, Marv Bevan and Jim Conroy pitched for the Riders with Mike Blum their catcher.
1968 (58 years ago)
After the Ottawa Rough Riders held their high school camp, 16 players earned scholarships to the U.S. Six of the 16 were from Ottawa. Mike Lambros will be attending Duke and Geoff Hamlin will enroll at North Carolina. Chuck Fairbairn, Dave Montagano, George Wade and Bryan Watson will be placed at U.S. colleges later. Others trying to find scholarships included Mike Beausoleil from Windsor and Terry Wellesley from Belleville.
1968 (58 years ago)
Defensive back Bob O’Billovich announced his retirement in a letter to the Ottawa Football Club. General Manager Red O’Quinn had been talking with O’Billovich about a new deal, but the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on an offer.
1972 (54 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders held their first day of training camp. While the players were doing their maneuvers on the turf, thieves broke into the locker room and removed about half a dozen wallets out of the trousers of the players.
1975 (51 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders General Manager Frank Clair said he has made the club’s final offer to new Rider, Tony Gabriel. Gabriel is on the option year of a contract he signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for $18,000. Riders now own that contract. If he doesn’t sign, he would be getting 90 per cent of that, about $16,200 for the season. Riders have offered him a new contract for what Clair calls a “substantial” raise. “We have all-star people on our club and I’m not going to create bad feeling by changing our salary structure for one player,” said Clair.
1977 (49 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders traded defensive back Rod Woodward to Calgary Stampeders to complete the Larry Cates’ trade.
1985 (41 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders obtained linebacker Tom Towns and deep back David Brown from the Edmonton Eskimos for future considerations.
1990 (36 years ago)
Ottawa Rough Riders’ General Manager, Jo-Anne Polak announced that the club has sold 12,600 season-ticket subscriptions, up from 11,126 a year ago. The increase of 1,474 adds $250,000 to the club’s treasury.
1992 (34 years ago)
Dexter Manley was excused from the Ottawa Rough Riders training camp for the next three days because of an urgent family matter.
2002 (24 years ago)
Ottawa Renegades acquired receiver/kick returner Donnie Ashley from the Edmonton Eskimos for a second-round draft pick (10th overall) used to take fullback Kojo Aidoo.
2004 (22 years ago)
Don Loney, Ottawa Rough Riders centre from 1947 to 1951, passed away at Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia after a lengthy battle with cancer in his 81st year.
2015 (11 years ago)
Ottawa RedBlacks got close to finalizing their roster deadline numbers by releasing seven international players. Wide receiver Jamill Smith was the only released player who had playing time with the club last season.
2016 (10 years ago)
Ottawa RedBlacks released 22 players and assigned 10 of them to the club’s practice roster. The players on the practice roster will get a weekly practice roster salary of $750, plus they’re provided with a furnished apartment.
