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A member of the first-ever Grey Cup-winning Saskatchewan Roughriders team has died.
Defensive back Dale West died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, according to the CFL club. He was 84 years old.
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders are saddened to learn of the passing of Rider great Dale West, who proudly represented his home province both on and off the football field.
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) May 19, 2026
Our thoughts are with his family, many friends and loved ones 💚 pic.twitter.com/82pgXlgxNT
From Cabri, West used his athleticism to eventually claim a spot on the Riders, first joining the team in 1962. He contributed on defence, offence and special teams.
West was mostly a wide receiver for his first season and a bit with the Roughriders before moving to safety. He was also the team’s emergency punter.
West caught the game-winning touchdown in 1963 against the Edmonton Eskimos. That was significant, as quarterback Ron Lancaster led a 109-yard drive to win the game, despite the fact he still hadn’t been named the team’s starting field general.
“Ronnie and (head coach) Bob Shaw didn’t get along real well to the point Ron never went on any road trips; he was left at home for the first go up until that game basically and it was a home game. It was an interesting conflict. Bob Shaw never liked anyone who was more popular than he was,” West said in a 2020 interview.
But with Lancaster staking his claim as the starter and running back George Reed turning into a perennial all-star, the fortune of the Roughriders began to change. It all led to the 1966 Grey Cup in Toronto against the Ottawa Rough Riders.
“That was really, really exciting. I don’t think everybody realized exactly how big a game that was. We didn’t go in there thinking, ‘You know, the Riders have never won a Grey Cup; maybe we could win one.’ It wasn’t like that at all,” West said.
Saskatchewan won 29-14 to claim the franchise’s first CFL title.
“We supposedly didn’t have a chance to win the game. Ottawa was the be-all and end-all at that particular time and they didn’t even have cameras for our dressing room for after the game. The cameras were over in the Ottawa dressing room because they were convinced that Ottawa would win the Grey Cup,” said West, who had an interception in the game.
“The homecoming was outstanding. We were loaded up on the bus and went to the armouries and there was thousands of people there. As a number of us have mentioned, we never had to buy a drink for a month.”
West was a graduate of the University of Regina after attending the University of Arizona and the University of Saskatchewan on a football scholarship. He went on to play with the Riders for seven seasons.
He was named the CFL West Division’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 1963.
West was named a Western all-star three times in his CFL career, during which he caught 18 passes for 480 yards and six touchdowns and intercepted 17 passes for 265 yards and a TD.
He was inducted into the Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour in 1997. He was also enshrined in the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame (1988) and Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1989).
He retired from the Roughriders in 1968 and he spent the next 31 years as a teacher in Regina. He eventually became a vice-principal. Following his retirement from that, West served as a trustee on the Regina Public School Board for three terms.
He was also the program co-ordinator for the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
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