Dave Ridgway

Ridgway's consistent kicking for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 14 seasons from 1982 to 1995, through good times and bad, earned him the nickname "Robo Kicker".  Ridgway was originally a seventh round draft pick of the Montreal Alouttes in 1981, but was released before the 1981 season started.  Montreal liked Ridgway's placekicking ability, but not so much his punting.  With the smaller roster sizes of the time, Montreal opted for Gerry McGrath as their all-in-one kicker. Ridgway had a tryout with Winnipeg, before signing with Saskatchewan in April of 1982. In his first season with the Riders, Ridgway kicked 38 fieldgoals and 163 points to win both West and CFL All-Star honours in his rookie season.  After four seasons with the Riders, Ridgway was actually traded twice before the 1987 season.  He was first traded to Edmonton along with the Rider's third round pick in the 1987 CFL college draft (which turned out to be Todd Storme) for offensive lineman Brian Illerbrun.  Edmonton then traded Ridgway to Montreal along with QB Brad Taylor and their first round draft pick in 1987 (Matthew Salo) for offensive tackle Trevor Bowles.  It looked like Ridgway's career with Saskatchewan was over, but fate intervened.  The Alouttes folded prior to the 1987 season and Ridgway was reclaimed by Saskatchewan in the second round of the dispersal draft.  Ridgway's new lease on life in Saskatchewan yielded six more West All-Star honours and five more CFL All-Star selections.  The return to the Riders, also meant Ridgway was with Saskatchewan for their 1989 Grey Cup game, in which he kicked the game winning fieldgoal to give the Riders their second Grey Cup in franchise history.  Ridgway became property of Montreal for the third time after the 1995 season when the was traded along with offensive lineman Dan Payne, DB Anthony Drawhorn, FB David Pitcher and the rights to tackle Matthew Quivger for FB Bruce Boyko, offensive lineman John James, running back Willie Latta and future considerations.  Ridgway, however, retired before playing for Montreal.  Ridgway had over 100 points in all 14 seasons, and was over 200 points in four of them with his highest total coming in 1990 with 233 points.  Ridgway's best year for accuracy was 1993 when he hit on 46 of 53 field goal attempts for an excellent 90.6% success rate. Ridgway is currently fifth on the CFL all-time fieldgoal list with 574 and ninth on the convert list with 541.  Among the records he holds are most fieldgoals in one season, with 59 (1990) and most fieldgoals in a game with 8 which he accomplished twice.  Ridgway won 6 CFL All-Stars (1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1993) and a 7 West All-Star (same years and also 1991).  Ridgway was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Rider's Ridgeway On Solid Ground - August 21, 1982

Dave Ridgway Biography in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Games Played, Placekicking and Points
Year Team GP ConvA ConvG % Att Good FG% Long S MFG YdsMFG Avg PTS
1982 SASK 16 34 34 100 51 38 74.5 53 9 13 553 42.5 163
1983 SASK 16 32 31 96.9 35 22 62.9 47 11 13 563 43.3 111
1984 SASK 16 30 30 100 42 28 66.7 55 10 14 665 47.5 127
1985 SASK 16 25 25 100 38 23 60.5 52 9 15 677 45.1 109
1986 SASK 18 35 34 97.1 50 37 74 50 8 13 575 44.2 153
1987 SASK 17 23 23 100 57 49 86 60 4 8 358 44.8 174
1988 SASK 18 45 45 100 66 55 83.3 53 5 11 369 33.5 215
1989 SASK 18 49 49 100 68 54 79.4 53 5 14 570 40.7 216
1990 SASK 18 48 47 97.9 72 59 81.9 53 9 13 617 47.5 233
1991 SASK 18 56 56 100 61 52 85.2 52 3 9 327 36.3 218
1992 SASK 18 50 50 100 47 36 76.6 47 7 11 508 46.2 165
1993 SASK 18 51 51 100 53 48 90.6 50 1 5 229 45.8 196
1994 SASK 13 35 35 100 39 30 76.9 52 3 9 332 36.9 128
1995 SASK 18 31 31 100 57 43 75.4 55 8 14 633 45.2 168
Kickoffs
Year Team KO Yds Avg Long S
1982 SASK 65 3810 58.6 90 6
1983 SASK 60 3400 56.7 90 3
1984 SASK 60 3412 56.9 90 3
1985 SASK 53 3146 59.4 89 6
1986 SASK 77 4629 60.1 72 0
1987 SASK 67 3489 52.1 83 0
1988 SASK 83 4449 53.6 95 0
1989 SASK 90 4737 52.6 95 0
1990 SASK 99 5119 52.7 72 0
1991 SASK 108 5600 51.9 75 1
1992 SASK 97 4959 51.1 71 0
1993 SASK 86 4450 51.7 76 0
1994 SASK 59 3306 56 73 3
1995 SASK 64 3414 53 67 0
Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1982 SASK 0 0
1983 SASK 0 0
1984 SASK 1 1
1985 SASK 0 0
1986 SASK 1 0
1987 SASK 1 0
1988 SASK 1 1
1989 SASK 1 1
1990 SASK 0 0
1991 SASK 2 1
1992 SASK 1 1
1993 SASK 1 1
1994 SASK 0 0
1995 SASK 0 0
Fumble Returns
Year Team FR Yds Avg TD Long OFR FF
1982 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1983 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1984 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1985 SASK 1 0 0 0 0 0
1986 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1987 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1988 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1989 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1990 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1991 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1992 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1993 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tackles
Year Team T ST Total
1982 SASK


1983 SASK


1984 SASK


1985 SASK


1986 SASK


1987 SASK 0

1988 SASK 0

1989 SASK 0

1990 SASK 0

1991 SASK 0 1 1
1992 SASK 0 2 2
1993 SASK 0 0 0
1994 SASK 0 0 0
1995 SASK 0 0 0
1983 Sask Safety