WAYNE “RED” O’BRIEN

By admin | February 16, 2021
  • Type: Athlete
  • Sport(s): Football
  • Year: 2018

Script for Wayne  “Red” O’Brien

Wayne was born in Moncton, NB and arrived in Dartmouth as a young lad to begin his athletic career. This induction begins a great list for this 2018 MSHOF induction.

The November script read by Frank Mitchell, chair of the MSHOF Executive committee, is repeated here today.  This event was held only a month or so before Wayne passed, so was celebration for him with his friends and sports colleagues, which brightened his life, for that moment at least.

The recipient is Wayne “Red” O’Brien, whose resumé includes playing four years with Saint Mary’s Huskies, winning the 1964 Atlantic Bowl Championship (a SMU Hall of Fame team); he also played with the undefeated Saint Mary’s team in 1965, but there was no Atlantic Bowl competed for that year.  Later he headed to McMaster where he played football while working on his Physical Education degree. The McMaster Marauders defeated St FX University for the Atlantic Bowl and went to the Vanier Cup in 1967 (“Red” being voted as the Best Defensive Lineman of the Year). Although McMaster lost 10-9 to the Golden Bears, O’Brien was so outstanding he was offered a contract with the Montreal Alouettes in 1968.

In a recent Press Release on “Red” O’Brien, Rick Grant wrote: one of Nova Scotia’s great football players, Wayne “Red” O’Brien played for McMaster Marauders in the Vanier Cup and he played for the Montreal Alouettes  … and that “Red” had what he termed a “storied” football career: Mr. O’Brien was scouted by Jim Trimble of the Hamilton Tiger Cats, offered a contract, but the outstanding lineman decided to take a pass. Being one of only two Canadians was not what he aspired to at that point. Trimble then took O’Brien to the NY Giants who offered him a spot with their farm team in Scranton Pennsylvania, where he would become a member of the Giants taxi “squad” which filled in for injuries. However,

the very independent O’Brien eventually decided instead to return to university for a degree in Physical Education.

In between there was a stint with the Victoria Steelers of the US Continental Football League (Pacific Coast League/ division), until he was again drafted into the CFL by the Montreal Alouettes in 1968, playing as a cornerstone on their defense. His contract was, at the time, the largest ever paid to a Canadian lineman. Wayne O’Brien was the first Nova Scotian to play in the CFL, although others would follow in the next several decades. All was well for a potentially outstanding career until an unfortunate block (by Tommy Joe Coffey, Hamilton Ti-Cats) abruptly ended “Red’s” professional career.

“Red” had also played hockey at Dartmouth High is the Metro High School league (1959-61) and also played minor, and junior hockey with a variety of Dartmouth teams, including People’s Hardware, Hoyts Movers and Deluxe Dry Cleaners. He was a rugged defenseman on the victorious Hoyt’s team, which won the very first Twin City Junior A league in 1963-4.

Anecdotes in conversation with “Red” O’Brien:

  1. “Red” was asked if making the Montreal Alouettes was his greatest thrill in football at a time when a CFL team had to sign 2 Canadian players.: his reply: “As a football player, I expected to make the team”.
  2. He also commented that there were a couple of things that stood out at the 25th anniversary if the Vanier Cup.
  3. Although “Red’s” MacMaster Marauder’s team was defeated 10-9 by the Alberta Golden Bears in the first ever Vanier Cup. Three members of the Bears sought out “Red” at the 25th banquet, wanting to meet that ‘crazy linebacker, who was in on every play’ in 1967.
  4. At the time Wayne O’Brien was the defensive coach for a Mississauga Pee Wee team. One of the parents, a U of T professor, did not want his kid to play football, but the kid won out and began playing. Unfortunately he broke his arm, but the kid insisted he be given a “hard cast” so he could continue playing … with the team eventually winning the league championship. The “kid” had learned tenacity and perseverance from his coach and mentor.

That father also sought out “Red” at the closing banquet, thanking him for making his son’s summer the best ever.

Those, friends and sports enthusiasts, is what meant most to Red O’Brien; that is his legacy.