PLAYER #68 - DAVE THELEN (1965-66)

As any expert will tell you, football is not an exact science. Sure, there are certain fundamental truths everybody follows, but there is not, nor has there ever been, only one true way to play the game.

The same is true for coaching. Each coach has his own style, ranging from a nice guy "players" coach like Adam Rita to a hard-nosed dictator like Vince Lombardi. Each approach is correct in its proper setting, but when a disciplinarian is brought in when a friend is needed, it can lead to disaster.

This was the case in Dave Thelen's two years with the Argos in the mid-60's. An all-star fullback with the Ottawa Rough Riders since 1958, Thelen came to the Argos in '65 to anchor a veteran unit assembled by head coach Bob Shaw.

"He worked on the premise that he could take seasoned ballplayers and build a team around them," said Thelen. "He was a very stern disciplinarian. Young rookies need that discipline, but I think he got the opposite of what he was looking for from our team."

During Shaw's two years with the Argos, the team went 3-11 and 5-9 respectively, finishing fourth in the East and missing the playoffs both years. 1966 was the fifth straight year the Double Blue finished in last place in the East, and it subsequently cost Shaw his job.

His replacement, Leo Cahill had a bit more success, but by then Thelen had decided to hang up the cleats and move into his other successful business, Thelen Torontow Lighting in Ottawa.

"The business started to grow and I couldn't stay away from it any longer," said Thelen, who started the company in 1965 and sold his shares in 1990. He and his wife of 34 years, Bonnie, currently live in Nepean, Ontario and have four children: David, John, Lana and Dayna.

Just before he sold his company and settled into the good life, Thelen was honoured in 1989 for his career accomplishments by being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

"It was later than I had hoped, but eventually I did get in," said Thelen, who finished fifth on the CFL's all-time rushing list with 8463 yards on 1530 carries for a 5.5 yard average and 47 touchdowns over nine seasons. He was the East's leading rusher in 1959, 1960 and 1965, an all-star six times, and on top of that, one of the best blockers in the history of the game.

But individual honours do not tell the whole story. Thelen played with some of the best players in CFL history on those Ottawa teams of the '60's, and won the Grey Cup in 1960.

"We all came up the same year (1958), me, Russ Jackson, Ronnie Stewart, Moe Racine, etc...", said Thelen, a native of East Canton, Ohio, who attended the University of Miami at Ohio.

"I played with a lot of great ones. I felt my career was really lucky."