The 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in second place in the East Division with an 8–8 record. This season marked the last time an Ottawa football team hosted a playoff game until 2015 when the second-year Ottawa Redblacks hosted the East Final, where the Rough Riders lost the East-Semi Final game to Hamilton by a score of 33–31.
Offseason CFL draft Rd Pick Player Position School 1 2 Steve Harrison LB British Columbia 2 11 Junior Robinson DB Guelph 3 20 Sam Benincasa LB Guelph 4 29 John Kane OL Michigan Tech 5 38 Courtney Taylor DB Wilfrid Laurier 6 47 Francois Payer DE Bishop's 7 56 Chris Rhora DE Acadia 8 65 Don Clow WR Acadia
Preseason Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record A June 10 at Montreal Concordes L 4–14 0–1 10,100 B June 16 vs. Montreal Concordes L 13–34 0–2 12,803 C June 24 at Toronto Argonauts L 15–31 0–3 28,107 D June 29 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 47–40 1–3 13,331
Regular season Standings
Schedule Week Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record 1 1 July 8 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 26–25 1–0 18,995 2 2 July 16 at Montreal Concordes L 28–36 1–1 15,621 3 3 July 21 vs. Calgary Stampeders L 16–27 1–2 18,621 4 4 July 28 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 4–44 1–3 18,622 5 Bye 6 5 Aug 13 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 22–24 1–4 14,729 7 6 Aug 19 vs. Toronto Argonauts L 17–27 1–5 30,006 8 7 Aug 26 at Edmonton Eskimos W 17–14 2–5 49,880 9 8 Sept 2 vs. BC Lions W 49–19 3–5 22,234 10 9 Sept 9 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders L 28–29 3–6 23,475 11 Bye 12 10 Sept 25 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 29–25 4–6 26,014 13 11 Oct 1 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 24–23 5–6 24,404 14 12 Oct 8 at Calgary Stampeders W 29–24 6–6 24,167 15 13 Oct 16 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 42–23 7–6 25,642 16 14 Oct 23 at Toronto Argonauts W 20–19 8–6 36,526 17 15 Oct 29 vs. Montreal Concordes L 20–25 8–7 20,959 18 16 Nov 5 at BC Lions L 13–40 8–8 42,901
Postseason Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record East Semi-Final Nov 13 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 31–33 0–1 28,524 Roster 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders final rosterQuarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen T T G G T C/G C
Defensive linemen DT DT DE DE DT DE DE Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams P K/P
Injured list WR WR
Italics indicate International player
Awards and honours CFL awards CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Marshall (DE) CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Rudy Phillips (OG)
CFL All-Stars
RB – Alvin "Skip" Walker OG – Rudy Phillips OT – Kevin Powell DT – Gary Dulin DE – Greg Marshall
References