David Thelen (born September 2, 1936) is a former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

and the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the CFL East Division, East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based i ...

. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...

in 1989. Dave Thelen played semi-pro baseball and was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

and by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

before joining the

of the

in 1958. During his 9-year career, Thelen rushed for 8,463 yards on 1,530 carries and scored 47 touchdowns. His best years were 1959 to 1961, when he rushed for over 1,000 yards for 3 straight years. He was the CFL’s leading rusher in 1960 with 1407 yards (5.7 yards/rush) and the eastern conference leader in 1959 and 1965. In one game in 1960, he carried 33 times for 209 yards against the

. That year, he was part of the 48th Grey Cup winning team. In 1965, Thelen was replaced by Bo Scott and traded to the

, playing his final two years with them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelen, Dave 1938 births Living people American football running backs American players of Canadian football Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football running backs Miami RedHawks football players Ottawa Rough Riders players People from East Canton, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Toronto Argonauts players