By Rob Vanstone
Jan 28, 2023
Dave Albright, a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 1989 Grey Cup team, died Thursday of a heart attack — one day after turning 63.
Dave Albright, who scored one of the biggest touchdowns in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ second championship season, died Thursday in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Albright suffered a heart attack one day after his 63rd birthday.
“Dave was so passionate about the game of football and life,” former Roughriders linebacking cohort Dan Rashovich said Saturday. “He played hard, played fast, and lived life to the fullest.
“He was one of the toughest and best teammates, and one of the best friends, a guy could ever have.”
A middle linebacker with the Roughriders from 1986 to 1991, Albright set a franchise single-season record for defensive tackles (118) during his second CFL season. That record stood until Darnell Sankey made 120 tackles in 2022.
Albright, who appeared in 76 regular-season games with the Roughriders, made his most memorable play in the 1989 West Division final.
With Edmonton leading 10-3 early in the second quarter at Commonwealth Stadium, a blitzing Eddie Lowe rocked quarterback Tracy Ham and forced a fumble. Albright scooped up the loose ball and ran 62 yards for a game-changing touchdown.
The Roughriders went on to win 32-21, even though their regular-season record (9-9) paled in comparison to Edmonton’s 16-2 mark. The 16 regular-season victories endure as a CFL record.
“I’m the guy who gets the touchdown, but credit Eddie with the big play,” Albright said in a 2009 interview. “(Edmonton) had one of the best teams in the history of the CFL but, from the moment that play happened, we all believed.”
One week later, Saskatchewan posted a 43-40 Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 26, 1989 — 23 years to the day after the Roughriders first won a CFL title.
Albright had also made a key play in the 1989 West semi-final, intercepting Calgary Stampeders quarterback Danny Barrett to set up a Tim McCray touchdown run that helped Saskatchewan assume a 20-6 lead. The Roughriders won 33-26.
A graduate of San Jose State University, the Oakland-born Albright made his pro debut with the United States Football League’s Memphis Showboats in 1985.
According to The Commercial Appeal, a Memphis-based newspaper, the Showboats were the only USFL team to give Albright “a serious look” after his agent had contacted every club in that circuit. Showboats scout John Griffin liked what he saw on film and a tryout resulted.
“My aggressive play and hustle in camp really helped me,” Albright told The Commercial Appeal’s Mike Fleming in late February of 1985.
The USFL folded before the 1986 season could begin. Albright joined the Roughriders’ practice roster in August of that year.
He made his CFL debut on Sept. 14, 1986, when the Roughriders and Hamilton played to a 21-21 tie at Taylor Field in what turned out to be the first overtime game in CFL history.
“It didn’t take long to realize that the Riders were a very important piece of the city, because everyone was talking about them,” Albright recalled.
Albright, described in 1988 as “a blue-collar football player” by then-assistant coach Ted Heath, would eventually help the Roughriders snap the longest playoff drought in CFL history — 11 years (1977-87).
“Guys like Roger Aldag let us know that the Riders were more than a football team,” Albright said of the legendary offensive lineman. “They were a way of life. Despite the losing record, everyone did their best to stay positive and work hard, because they knew they were doing it for a fan base that was second to none.”
So was Albright, when it came to toughness.
In 1989, Albright played in 12 of the 18 regular-season games and all three playoff contests despite having suffered a fractured right forearm, a broken left hand, and badly stretched knee ligaments. The troublesome right knee had to be taped up before each game and again at halftime.
The following year, Albright suffered a dislocated left big toe in the final exhibition game, but insisted on answering the bell for the regular season.
“For the first three games of the year, doctors stuck a needle right through my big toe and into my foot,” Albright, who eventually required surgery to repair the injured toe, said in the 2009 interview.
“I would have a tongue depressor, and I just bit down on that to try and ease the pain. It amused my teammates somewhat as they watched that. It entertained them, but it pained me.”
Albright retired from football after the 1991 season, while facing arthroscopic surgery.
“I’m having both shoulders scoped after the season,” he told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix in November of 1991. “That will be my 10th and 11th operations. My body just can’t take it anymore.”
While playing for the Roughriders, he also worked in human resources at SaskTel. He moved back to California with his wife Laurie, who is from Regina, after leaving football. They raised two sons — Connor and Jacob.
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