Ottawa Rough Riders greats Thelen, Gaines, Marshall join Wall of Honour

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Three Ottawa Rough Riders legends will be added to the Wall of Honour at TD Place in June.

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The Redblacks announced Wednesday Dave Thelen, Gene Gaines and Greg Marshall have been nominated by the CFL Ottawa Alumni Association selection committee and will go onto the Wall of Honour at the team’s CFL home-opener against the Calgary Stampeders June 15, joining 14 other legends.

Thelen, a running back, played for the Riders from 1958-64 and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1989. He’s fifth in CFL history with 30 100-yard rushing games. In 1960, Thelen rushed for 1,407 yards in 12 games. During his nine-year career, Thelen rushed for 8,463 yards on 1,530 carries, scoring 47 touchdowns.

Gaines, a defensive back, played for the Riders from 1962-1969 as part of a 17-year CFL career and was named to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He came to Ottawa from Montreal in a trade for Angelo Mosca. He’s the CFL playoff record-holder with a 128-yard kickoff return in the 1964 East final vs. Hamilton. Gaines was the East’s Most Outstanding Player in 1966. Gaines later had CFL coaching jobs in Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and BC.

Marshall, a defensive lineman, played all nine years of his CFL career in Ottawa – from 1980-1988 – and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1983. Marshall’s record of sacks in a season (16.5 in 16 games) was last season beaten by Redblacks defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin (17 sacks in 18 games). Marshall became head coach of the Sooners and Bootleggers, then had CFL jobs with Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Ottawa Renegades, Winnipeg and Hamilton. He’s currently the head coach at the University of Toronto.