Five Gee-Gees Elected to 2023 Football Hall of Fame Class

Photos of five Gee-Gees football players in frames, with a Hall of Fame logo decal in the middle. Left to right: Don Burns, Mike Hendricks, Michel Dupuis, Frantz Jacques, Ettore Lattanzio
March 17, 2023

A foursome of fearsome defensive players and one record-setting receiver have been selected as the 2023 inductees to the Gee-Gees Football Hall of Fame. Ettore Lattanzio, Frantz Jacques, Michel Dupuis, Mike Hendricks, and Don Burns will be inducted on Saturday, April 22 as part of the Touchdown Weekend.

Tickets for the event are now on sale online.

Ettore Lattanzio (2010-2014) becomes the most recent graduate elected into the Hall of Fame, having completed his five-year Gee-Gees career in 2014 before beginning a five-year CFL career. Lattanzio was drafted by Winnipeg before being signed by his hometown Ottawa Redblacks. With the Gee-Gees, he was a two-time All-Canadian on the defensive line and won the OUA J.P. Metras Award as Top Lineman in the same seasons, 2013 and 2014. He was also an OUA All-Star in 2012, and holds the team records for sacks in a career and sacks in a season. Lattanzio was the national J.P. Metras Award winner in 2014 and was a member of the 2016 Grey Cup championship team.

Frantz Jacques (1999-2002) was a two-time conference all-star at cornerback for the Garnet and Grey, and was named an All-Canadian in 2000 as part of the nation's best defence. In 2000, en route to the Vanier Cup national championship, Jacques contributed an interception to the Dunsmore Cup win and recorded 22 unassisted tackles in the regular season. The Montreal product was named an OUA All-Star in his final season in Garnet and Grey, recording 21 tackles that season.

A defensive teammate of Jacques on the 2000 Vanier Cup squad, Michel Dupuis was a Gee-Gees linebacker from 1995-2000. A tremendously versatile player, he led the team in sacks in 1998, had one interception return touchdown in 1997, and performed long-snapping duties. He was a defensive team captain in 2000 after missing the end of the 1999 season due to an ACL injury. Dupuis, originally from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., went on to play three CFL seasons with Toronto and Calgary.

Mike Hendricks (1992-1995) was the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the OQIFC in 1993, recording 72 tackles and four sacks that season. He earned All-Canadian honours at linebacker that season, and went on to record 184 career tackles at uOttawa. His 72 tackles is the third highest single season total in team history. In his senior season the Gee-Gees captured the first of three straight Dunsmore Cups. Born in Middleton, N.S., and raised in Montreal, Hendricks played the 1996 CFL season with Ottawa, recording 17 tackles, and was selected by the Alouettes in the 1997 dispersal draft.

Don Burns (1978-1982) was an All-Canadian at wide receiver in 1982 and was Ottawa's first member of the 2000-yards in a career club. In his senior season, Burns hauled in 60 receptions which set a National Record and still ranks second in team history. He is also among the top four in Gee-Gees history for receiving touchdowns in a career and career receiving yards. In 1980, Burns caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the Dunsmore Cup and added another in the Atlantic Bowl victory. Originally from Toronto, Burns is the fourth player from the 1980 Team, which was inducted to the Hall of Fame last year, to be inducted as an individual.