Facts and information about the Ottawa Rough Riders

• In existence since 1876, the Rough Riders of Ottawa folded following the 1996 season.

• The Rough Riders lost their final game in franchise history by a score of 35-24 to the British Columbia Lions.

• Though the Rough Riders shared a similar name with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, both teams were allowed to keep their names that they had held since long before they came to be members of the Canadian Football League.

• The Ottawa Rough Riders got their name from the log rollers in their region’s rivers, while their CFL counterparts the Saskatchewan Roughriders got their name from an alternate name for the North-West Mounted Police.

• During their existence, Ottawa played Saskatchewan for the Grey Cup four times, much entertainment was received from the Rough Riders vs. Roughriders battle for the championship.

• Ottawa adopted the team name Rough Riders in 1898, although they did play the 1925 and 1926 seasons as the Ottawa Senators.

• The Ottawa Rough Riders participated in the only regular season CFL game played by two Canadian teams but played in the United States. The Rough Riders lost 13-7 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1958 at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field.