Rick Sowieta

Rick Sowieta (10 March 1954 – 26 August 2017) was a CFL linebacker who played ten seasons in the Canadian Football League, mainly for the Ottawa Rough Riders, for whom he played eight years. He was a CFL Eastern All Star in 1980, 1983, and 1985.

Early life Born in Heusden, Belgium, Sowieta's parents and family emigrated to Canada in 1957, and he grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where he attended Glebe Collegiate for high school. While at the school, he played linebacker for the football team, who were City Jr. Junior Football Champs in 1969. He later played in the Canadian Junior Football League for the local Ottawa Sooners and, in 1971, they were the Eastern Canadian Finalists.

University Sowieta attended the University of Richmond in Virginia, where he earned a BA in Economics and graduated in 1977.