On April 24, 1996, one of the most prolific kickers to play the Canadian game announced his retirement. Dave Ridgway played every game throughout his 14-year career in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Born in England, his family came to Canada in the 1970s. Ridgway played college football at the University of Toledo. In 1981, he was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes but didn’t make the team. The following year he signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent.
In 1987, he was traded to Edmonton then subsequently traded to Montreal. After the Alouettes folded prior to the season, the Roughriders once again signed him. Clearly, fate wanted Ridgway to be a Rider.
On September 6, 1987, Ridgway kicked a then record 60-yard field goal in the Labour Day weekend game against the Winipeg Blue Bombers. It was probably the second biggest field goal in his career; we’ll get to the biggest one shortly.
Playing a whopping 238 games in the CFL, Ridgway was known for his accuracy and ability to get the job done in clutch situations. He scored 574 field goals and a total of 2,374 points throughout his career. His 78% all-time field goal accuracy helped earn him the nickname “Robokicker.” This stat is even more remarkable when you consider the length of his playing career as well as the fact that half of those games were played at Taylor Field in Regina which was known for its often windy conditions.
(Photo: Canadian Football Research Society)
Now, let’s get to that biggest field goal. And this one’s tough to talk about as a Ti-Cat fan. But one must give credit where credit is due. In the dying seconds of the 1989 Grey Cup game versus Hamilton with the score tied at 40-40, Dave Ridgway booted a 35-yard field goal to win the game for the Riders. It was a dagger in the hearts of Tiger-Cat fans but a hard fought and well-deserved victory for Robokicker and the Green and White. The kick (or better known as “The Kick”) secured just the second Grey Cup championship for Saskatchewan.
Prior to the 1996 season, Dave Ridgway was traded to Montreal. But rather than continue his career with the Als, he opted to call it a day and announced his retirement on his 37th birthday.
I reached out to Rod Pedersen, the former longtime voice of the Roughriders, to share his thoughts and memories of one of the CFL’s best. Rod was just nine years old when Ridgway arrived in Regina. “I was living in Milestone, SK collecting Roughriders trading cards from the local RCMP detachment which would’ve included Ridgway’s rookie card. My Dad was a Rider season ticket holder and took us to the games,” he recalls.
Ridgway’s loyalty to the Roughriders was clearly evident. “Dave’s a smart guy and realized quickly that the place you want to play in the CFL is Saskatchewan. The Riders weren’t very good back then (they were in the midst of missing the playoffs 11 years in a row) but the fans’ love for the team was real, and the players knew something special was being built by Rider management,” Rod continues.
I asked if there are any particular plays or special moments that stand out for him. “Well, they call him “Robokicker” for a reason, so it was nice to know, as a Rider fan, that generally anytime Ridgway went out for a field goal, he was going to make it. I mean, it’s an incredibly difficult task but Dave made it look easy. That didn’t ease much of our anxiety when he lined up a 35-yard field goal to win the 1989 Grey Cup, but we should’ve known. Ridgway’s accuracy made “The Miss” in the 1992 Western Semi-Final all the more unbelievable, and it lives in Rider lore to this day. That was also the last game Bob Poley and Roger Aldag ever played. There wasn’t any one single Ridgway kick that stands out, other than ’89, but he holds all the major records like most field goals in a season (59), most field goals in a game (8), and the longest field goal streak in Rider history (28).”
Rod’s mention of “The Miss” is a gentle reminder that even legends can falter. I remember watching that game on TV and seeing Ridgway slip on the natural grass at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on the final play of the game, dashing any chance of a Saskatchewan game-winning field goal.
Was Dave Ridgeway one of the greatest Riders off all time? Rod thinks so. “I think all the records I listed tells you that he is. Having his #36 retired, going into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2003, these things all point to his legacy. More than anything though, in my role with the Riders I got to be around Dave a lot, interview him multiple times, and he’s always first class and very obliging. That means more to me than all the records.”
So, here’s to the man who gave Rider fans something to cheer about (and a championship to boot!) for 14 seasons. Thirty years later, the records still stand. And the legend of Robokicker lives on.
Sources:
Canadian Football Hall of Fame profile for Dave Ridgway
The Regina Leader-Post, 8 June 1982
The Regina Leader-Post, 8 September 1987
Riderville heads back in time to honour Ridgway and ‘The Kick’
