Peter Dalla Riva was born in Italy, where the game of football involves this funny black and white round ball, not the ovoid most Canadians think of.  Dalla Riva, however, soon learned to play the Canadian game of football after his family moved to Canada, so well in fact that he went on to become one of the best tight ends to play in CFL history.  Dalla Riva played his entire 14 year CFL career with Montreal from 1968 to 1981.  That was the "hey day" of the tight end the CFL, when the offensive possibilities of the position were suddenly discovered.  This was due to players like Dalla Riva in Montreal, Tony Gabriel in Hamilton and Mel Profit in Toronto. For many years, the tight end position had languished as mainly a blocking position, but Dalla Riva and the others changed that.  Since then, the game has continued to evolve, and the tight ends of the 70s became the slot backs of the 80s.  Recently teams have reintroduced the tight end, but once more as a blocking position, often bringing in big defensive linemn to beef up the line.   All that is just background to explain to younger football fans who might view the offensive potential of tight ends with disdain.  Dalla Riva, and the other tight ends of that era, were very much offensive threats.   Dalla Riva had just 8 catches in his rookie season in 1968, but in the following years, Dalla Riva's playing time and offensive stats kept going up.  Dalla Riva hit a peak of 56 catches and nearly 800 yards receiving in both 1975 and 1976.  Dalla Riva was named an East All-Star 5 times (1972, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977) and a CFL All-Star three times (1972, 1973 and 1975).  Dalla Riva was also the Montreal nominee for Outstanding Canadaian twice (1975 and 1976). Peter Dalla Riva was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1993

Dalla Riva Cries, Others Stunned - November 2, 1971

Dalla Riva had one kickoff return for one yard in 1969.