Who He Was

Tony Gabriel was born in Burlington, Ontario, and was a success as both a basketball and football player in his high school years. He was recognized as the top student athlete at his school, and despite not making the football team in grade 10, he played well enough to get a place at Syracuse University.

Gabriel started his CFL career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1971, and after an uninspiring first season, he became a key part of the 1972 Grey Cup winners’ offence. He moved on to the Ottawa Rough Riders in ’75, and was part of their 1976 cup-winning squad. He played until 1981, and was elected to the CFL Hall of Fame in 1985.

Why He Was Great

In the modern CFL era, there have been great Canadian players, but few have been as dominant as Tony Gabriel. CFL All-Star for eight of his eleven seasons. Most outstanding Canadian for four seasons, and the league MVP in 1978 — the last Canadian player to win the honour for decades.

Tony Gabriel is famous in Hamilton for his late-game heroics in the 1972 Cup. In a game where he hardly saw the ball at all for three quarters, pivot Chuck Ealey found him for three straight passes late in the fourth quarter of a tied game. Gabriel made all three catches, putting Hamilton in position for the last-minute field goal from Ian Sunter that won them the cup. Was the Saskatchewan secondary asleep? Watching another game? We’re not sure. But it sure looks to us like Gabriel just made three great catches in a row, none of them easy, all of them essential for Hamilton’s win.

And despite playing some great football for Hamilton, he was even more successful in Ottawa. He holds the team’s record for career receiving yards and receptions, and led the league in receiving yards in both 1976 and 1977. Dave Sapunjis was the next Canadian receiver to top the league in the category, and that wasn’t until 1993.

Gabriel finished his career with four thousand-yard-plus seasons, the last in his final playing year, in 1981. Unfortunately he sustained a career-ending knee injury late in the 1981 Grey Cup, but even with his career cut short, Gabriel went out as the top Canadian receiver of all time, and third on the list for career reception yards overall.

But his name is etched into the hearts of Ottawa fans forever because of 1976. The 1976 Grey Cup. The Catch.

One Great Moment

Ottawa had come out strong in the Grey Cup game, taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Ron Lancaster and the Saskatchewan Roughriders fought back in the second, though, and the lead flipped in the green Riders’ favour by the half, standing at 17-10.

An exchange of field goals in the third quarter put the game at 20-13, and Ottawa’s fourth quarter field goal made it 20-16. Things were breaking Ottawa’s way until the Saskatchewan squad held them on the goal line in the dying minutes of the game, extinguishing Ottawa’s potentially game-winning touchdown drive.

Ottawa got the ball back, but with 20 seconds left on the clock, they had made it to the 24. The previous play had been a Tony Gabriel catch; he was brought down hard and took an elbow across the helmet for his trouble. At that point, “I’m seeing stars,” he later admitted.

But quarterback Tom Clements waved off the next play called in from the bench; instead, he opted to go with Tony Gabriel again.

Gabriel streaked towards the end zone and moved for an obvious post pattern. The safety bit hard on the move, faked out completely. Gabriel turned instead for the corner, Clements put the ball in the air, and Gabriel was all alone as he pulled down a perfectly executed pass. With the touchdown catch, Ottawa finally retook the lead, and with nothing left on the clock the game was theirs.

Why We Should Stand in Awe

CFL fans are always happy when they find a Canadian superstar to root for. Canadian players are raised in a less football-focused environment, and are in a much smaller talent pool than their American counterparts. Their achievements are often overshadowed by players from the USA, especially in high-profile positions.

Not Tony Gabriel. His stats as a player put him in the top level of players from either country, and in his active years, he was as good as any other receiver in the league. He wasn’t a guy who had a couple of good seasons in him; he was among the top players in the league, again and again, from his Cup-winning season in 1972 till his retirement in 1981, when he almost won a third Grey Cup ring.

There’s a reason this league keeps going, despite all predictions to the contrary. It’s because of guys like Tony Gabriel, putting up one great game after another, and turning on the late-game heroics whenever they’re called on. Whether you’re a Hamilton fan, an Ottawa Rough Riders fan, or a football fan in general, you can’t deny that Tony Gabriel sits among the greatest Canadians ever to play the game.

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