Just weeks after beating Saskatchewan to win it the Ottawa Rough Riders lost the Grey Cup. To thieves. On December 20, 1969, a bandit (or bandits) snatched the Grey Cup trophy from the Riders’ offices at Lansdowne Park.
Ottawa police were quick to suspect the heist was more or less a prank given the monetary value of the trophy. The Grey Cup was reportedly worth a mere $50. That’s only $425 in today’s dollars. While the sentimental value was much higher, because there were more valuable trophies and items left behind, the “prank” theory made sense.
It was actually the second time that the Grey Cup was stolen. Just two years earlier, pranksters stole the Grey Cup from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, only to have it reappear a few days later.
Ottawa police continued their investigation well into the new year. I got a chuckle at some of the coverage in the Ottawa Citizen, including this Dragnet parody of the saga. Dragnet was a popular TV show at the time.
A columnist in the Ottawa Journal had their own fun with the situation.
The investigation generated plenty of rumours and several dead ends. It wasn’t until mid-February that the missing Grey Cup was finally found. After receiving an anonymous tip, Earl Grey’s trophy was found unscathed in a storage locker at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Before returning the trophy to the CFL, Toronto police jokingly affixed a sticker in the place reserved for the 1970 champion which read: Metro Police ETF Emergency Task Force.
The CFL immediately turned over the Grey Cup to the Montreal Trust Company for safekeeping in a vault. Alas, the Grey Cup – the symbol of excellence in Canadian football – was safe and secure. As far as I can tell, that’s the end of the story. Police never did find the thief.
Sources:
Hamilton Spectator, 17 February 1970
Kingston Whig-Standard, 11 February 1970
Ottawa Citizen, 22 December 1969
Ottawa Citizen, 23 December 1969
Ottawa Citizen, 26 December 1969
Ottawa Journal, 6 January 1970
Toronto Star, 22 December 1969
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