In 1970, one of Peter Dalla Riva’s heroes, Sam Etcheverry was named coach of the Alouettes. The Alouettes were a terrible team, not winning the Grey Cup since 1949. With a roster of 24 rookies, including Peter, they became the Cinderella team. Beating all odds, the Alouettes won the grey cup that year. Peter recalls that after winning the cup, the October Crisis had just happened. He remembers arriving home at the Montreal Airport, the entire place shut down. The team was ushered by the army into a hotel close by and were told they could pick up their luggage at a later time. Once everything was cleared, Peter had his first ever exciting Grey Cup parade, an experience he said he would never forget. Two weeks later, he married his long-time girlfriend, Carol.
Peter Dalla Riva was born December 11, 1946, in Treviso, Italy. His father left Italy when Peter was 5, leaving behind his family to find a life in Canada. When Peter was 8 years old, his father had saved enough money to bring his family over to Hamilton, Ontario. Knowing no English, Peter struggled in his new home. Sports became his language and learned English through that. Growing up in Italy, he always had a soccer ball to kick around, but upon arriving in Canada, he found new sports to play, such as Hockey, Baseball and Football.
Peter grew up three blocks from Ivor Wynne Stadium, home to the Canadian Football League team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He recalls one time in 1956, the Tiger-Cats where playing the Montreal Alouettes at Ivor Wynne. Class was let out early and Peter, with his friends, climbed the closest tree to watch the game. Peter was stunned at watching Alouettes stars Sam Etcheverry and Hal Patterson. Peter then fell in love with Football.
His English improved and with sports on his mind, in high school he started playing Fastball. Along with having to go to school, he had to work in the mills to help support his family. Some of his friends were playing school football and told him he should try out. He made the team and got picked to play with the Burlington Braves at the age of 20 as a tight end. Finding that football was his calling, with just a 6’3, 190 pound lanky frame, Peter continued to improve his game. He got so good; scouts picked him to join their senior team, the Oakville Black Knights.
Peter never forgot the time he got picked to go to a rookie camp for his favorite team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Still having a tall, lanky frame, the coach decided to put him as a defensive end. During a warm-up, he was hanging out with the rookie receivers, catching balls for them. The veteran players were only supposed to show up later, but legend Hal Patterson decided to show up early to see the new rookies. Peter, sitting on the bench all alone, was shocked when his hero, Patterson, came and sat right next to him. “He sat right next to me, and I was in shock. He started talking to me like as if I was one of his teammates. I thought to myself ‘Geez, I’m a nobody, and I always respect him and how he played, and here he is talking to me!’” Unfortunately, Peter didn’t make the team. He returned to Oakville. The new confidence pushed him to improve even more, and got promoted to Linebacker/Tight-end.
A year later, Montreal Alouettes Assistant Coach Ralph Goldston, approached Peter’s coach, asking if he had any good Canadian players he could take a look at. Four were picked, Peter being one of them. Since Goldston lived in Hamilton in the offseason, he took a ride over to the Dalla Riva residence. He sat Peter down, asking him how much he got paid working at the mills. Wanting to make himself sound better off than the $4800 he was really making, he told Goldston he was making around $5500. Goldston looked at him and told him if he came to play with the Alouettes, he would make $6000 in just 6 months. Peter immediately accepted the offer. This made his father furious! “My father thought I was crazy,” Peter recalled. “He lectured me about how I had a sure thing at the mills, with security and union. I looked at him and told him straight up that I had to go, or I will never know if I really was any good!”
They gave his sweater number 74 and he caught the coaches’ eyes in rookie camp, hustling on special teams. He weighed less than 200 pounds, a good 25-30 pounds less than his future playing weight, but earned a roster spot as a linebacker/receiver.“I wasn’t even running properly,” he recalled. “When I was running, I was running on my heels. I remember Ralph Goldston pulling me over and saying, ‘Run on your toes, that way the ground’s not bouncing on you.’ He was right.” Towards the end of the season, an injury to one of the starters created an opening in the line-up and Dalla Riva moved into the tight end spot. He caught a few passes, one for a touchdown, and solidified himself for the rest of the season.
Sadly, in 1971, Peter tore up his knee in training camp and missed the entire season. “I woke up. After that incident, I started to see the field more. My eyes were open. Once I got the taste of a championship, I wanted more. I vowed to be an even better player.” The 1977 Grey Cup game was one Peter remembers well. It was held in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium, which still had no roof. Unfortunately, the night before, Montreal was hit with a snow storm, turning the field into a sheet of ice. Under new coach Marv Levy, the Als struggled along with their opponents, Edmonton, slipping all over the field. CFL legends Tony Proudfoot and Wally Buono got an interesting idea of tacking staples to the bottom of their cleats. The Als ended up beating Edmonton 41-6. Peter caught the opening touchdown in that game.
Playing 14 seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, appearing in 6 Grey Cups, winning 3, Peter Dalla Rive retired in 1981. Peter led the team in receiving five times and finished with a team record 54 regular-season touchdowns. He was voted an all-Canadian all-star in ’72, ’73 and ’75. He holds the team record for all-time seasons played (14) and games with at least one reception (164). He finished with 6,413 receiving yards, which stands as the third highest in team history, and is third overall with 450 career receptions. His number 74 was retired by the Alouettes in 1981, and was inducted in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Peter Dalla Riva currently lives in Montreal with his wife Carol, son Mark and daughter Lisa. He has worked for a customs brokerage business for the past 15 years and has been part of the CFL Hall of Fame induction committee since ’94. He is active in many charity events and is a big part of his community.
When asked to sum up what football meant to him, he simply replied “Football was my life, my bread and butter.”
No comments:
Post a Comment