Ottawa Rough Riders
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| Ottawa Rough Riders | |
  | |
| League | Canadian Football League |
| Division | East Division |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Folded | 1996 |
| Home field | Frank Clair Stadium |
| Based in | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Colours | Black and Red
|
- Founded: 1876
- Folded: 1996
- Formerly known as: Ottawa Football Club 1876 to 1897, Ottawa Senators 1925 to 1926.
- Home stadium: Frank Clair Stadium, formerly called Lansdowne Park
- Uniform colours: Black, red and white
- Helmet design: Black background with a face of a Rough Rider with an arrow or log driver's (rough rider's) pike in the background.
- Eastern regular season championships: 15 -- 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978
- Grey Cup finals appearances: 15 -- 1925 (won), 1926 (won), 1936 (lost), 1939 (lost), 1940 (won), 1941 (lost), 1948 (lost), 1951 (won), 1960 (won), 1966 (lost), 1968 (won), 1969 (won), 1973 (won), 1976 (won), 1981 (lost)
Franchise history
The team was organized in 1876 as the Ottawa Football Club. It adopted the name Rough Riders in 1898. Although in later years the name was said to derive from logging, the team played from 1925 on in the colours of the Teddy Roosevelt's regiment in the Spanish-American War, which, with the date of the renaming, suggests that the name comes from the war. The team did change its nickname to Senators in 1925 and 1926.For much of the team's history it played in the same league as the Saskatchewan Roughriders, confusing many, and also attracting general ridicule to the CFL for being a league with only eight or nine teams but two of them being named "rough riders" (although spelled differently). Those heaping such scorn did not know that the teams historically belonged to separate leagues ('unions'), which were not truly merged until the late 1950s; they were allowed to keep their long-standing nicknames. On four occasions, the two teams met in the Grey Cup, prompting joking predictions that "the rough riders" would win.
In the first-ever season of the CFL, the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats made history when the two teams played the first-ever regular season CFL game at Philadelphia's Franklin Field on August 23, 1958. This marked the first and only time, that two Canadian football teams would play on American soil. Hamilton would end up defeating Ottawa, 13-7.
The 1960s and 1970s were the Rough Riders' glory years. With coach and general manager Frank Clair at the helm along with players Russ Jackson, Whit Tucker, Ron Stewart, Tom Clements, and Tony Gabriel, the Riders were one of the CFL's best teams, winning the Grey Cup five times in that span and including their last victory in 1976, where Tony Gabriel made the game-winning touchdown catch in the end zone in a 26–23 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Rough Riders' last and final appearance in the Grey Cup game was 1981 against the heavily favoured Edmonton Eskimos. The game started out as a shocker when the Riders jumped out to a 23–8 halftime lead over the Eskimos. But a controversial double interference call against Riders receiver Tony Gabriel in the second half proved to be costly, as the Eskimos, led by backup quarterback Tom Wilkinson, came from behind to beat the Riders 26–23 on a game-winning field goal by kicker Dave Cutler.
Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s, despite having two even 0.500 records (8–8 in 1983 and 9–9 in 1992) along with hosting the 1988 Grey Cup, the Riders struggled with losing seasons, poor ownership, mismanagement, and decreased fan support, which ultimately led to the team folding in 1996. Football fans in Ottawa lived without CFL football for the next five years until 2002, when the city regained a CFL team, this one called the Renegades. (Although there was sentiment toward resurrecting the Rough Riders name, the final owner of the previous franchise expected payment for the rights to it; the new franchise declined the request, and went with a 'fresh' name for the new team.)
Logo history of the Ottawa Rough Riders
Helmet history of the Ottawa Rough Riders
Players of note
Canadian Football Hall of Famers:
- Less Browne
- Jerry "Soupy" Campbell
- Tom Clements
- Abe Eliowitz
- Eddie Emerson
- Tony Gabriel
- Tony Golab
- Condredge Holloway
- Russ Jackson
- Bob Simpson
- David Sprague
- Ron Stewart
- Andrew Tommy
- Joe Tubman
- Whit Tucker
- Kaye Vaughan
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