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Under the Influence

That time the Saskatchewan Roughriders played the Ottawa Rough Riders

There aren’t many examples of two teams, in the same country, in the same sport, in the same league, with the same names, but the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were brand twins for decades. In one of the great Canadian sports anomalies of all time.
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Tony Gabriel of the Ottawa Rough Riders makes the game winning catch from quarterback Tom Clements as Saskatchewan Roughriders defender Ted Provost looks on during the 1976 Grey Cup final. It was Ottawa's last CFL championship. (Canadian Press)
Under the Influence27:26Hard Days & Golden Knights: The World of Brand Twins

The final score at the 64th Grey Cup game back in 1976 was Rough Riders 23, Roughriders 20. It's one of the great Canadian sports anomalies of all time.

There aren't many examples of two teams, in the same country, in the same sport, in the same league, with the same names. But the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were brand twins for decades.

The Ottawa Rough Riders – with "Rough" and "Riders" being two separate words – were founded in 1876 and adopted the name in 1898, along with their red and black colours. Ottawa kept its name until 1925, when the club changed its name to the Ottawa Senators, before reverting back to the Rough Riders in 1930.

It's thought the name came from the Canadians who fought with Teddy Roosevelt's famous troops in the Spanish-American war, who sported red and black colours.

Meanwhile, the Regina Rugby club changed its name to the Regina Roughriders – "Roughriders" being all one word – back in 1924. The rugby team eventually transitioned to football and became the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1946. The origin of their name is said to have come from the Mounted Police and the "roughriders" who broke their broncos.

Saskatchewan won their first Grey Cup back in 1966. The score was Roughriders 29, Rough Riders 14. Amazingly, both teams found a way to co-exist for 65 years. But after winning nine Grey Cups, the Ottawa Rough Riders folded in 1996. The team came back as the Ottawa Renegades for a few years, then folded again.

When the franchise was ready to return once more, it was blocked from using the Rough Riders name this time around – so the club re-branded as the Ottawa REDBLACKS and made their CFL debut in 2014.

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