Tony Gabriel Tony Gabriel ( born December 11 , 1948 in Burlington , Ontario ) is a former professional Canadian football pass receiver who played in the Canadian Football League from 1971 to 1981 . He played for both the Hamilton Tiger - Cats and the Ottawa Rough Riders . He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in August 1984 . Early life . Gabriel was born in Burlington , Ontario on December 11 , 1948 , and attended Burlington Central High School from 1962 to 1967 . While at BCHS , Tony played both football and basketball . He was a member of the Junior Basketball Championship team from 1965 . He was honoured in 1967 , with the M . M . Robinson Gold Medal for top student athlete at BCHS . Two memories that stick out in his mind from being a Trojan were , firstly , not making the football team in his grade ten year ; and in his grade 13 year , scoring 48 points in a senior basketball game to completely outscore the entire Nelson team . Gabriel was active throughout high school playing junior football for the Burlington Braves under the direction of famed coach Bernie Custis . From there he attended Syracuse University from 1968 – 1971 where he played split - end for coach Ben Schwartzwalder . Following his time in college , he went on to have a legendary professional football career in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats from 1971 – 1974 , and with the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1975 – 1981 . CFL career . Gabriel ' s first CFL year with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats in 1971 , was rather mediocre , with only 20 catches for 265 yards and one touchdown . With rookie quarterback Chuck Ealey in 1972 Gabriel caught 49 passes for 733 yards and 3 scores during the season and helped the team win the Grey Cup over the Saskatchewan Roughriders . After the 1974 season he joined the Ottawa Roughriders . With Ottawa he had five seasons of over 1000 yards receiving , including four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978 , with the other in 1981 . In 1976 and 1977 Gabriel led the CFL in receiving yards with 1320 and 1362 respectively . There would not be another Canadian receiver with this accomplishment until the Stampeders ' Dave Sapunjis in 1993 . The 1976 Grey Cup game is perhaps what fans most remember of Gabriel , with his late fourth quarter touchdown catch from Tom Clements that won the game over the Saskatchewan Roughriders . In 1978 he was awarded the Schenley Award for the Most Valuable Player in the CFL , becoming the first Canadian to win the prize in almost 10 years . No Canadian has won the award since . In his career Gabriel was chosen ten consecutive times as the EFC ' s all - star tight end from 1972 to 1981 . As well he was named to the league ' s all star team as the tight end in 1972 and from 1974 to 1980 . The 1981 Grey Cup game saw the Rough Riders play the Edmonton Eskimos . Gabriel entered the game with a partial ligament tear in his left knee . Late in the game following a questionable penalty , Gabriel left the game when his knee finally gave out , never to play professionally again . At the time , Gabriel stood at third among the all - time receivers behind only Tom Scott and Tommy Joe Coffey . This also made him first among Canadian receivers . In his 11 seasons , he caught 614 passes for 9832 yards and 69 touchdowns . He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in August 1984 and in November 2006 , was voted one of the CFL ' s Top 50 players ( # 18 ) of the league ' s modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network / TSN . As of 1999 Gabriel has resided in Oakville , Ontario with his wife Susanne . Awards . Schenley Nominations Jeff Russel Trophy for Outstanding Player in the Eastern Division Lew Hayman Trophy for Outstanding Canadian Player in the Eastern Division All - Star Selections - Eastern Division