Gabriel was born in Burlington, Ontario on December 11, 1948, and attended Burlington Central High School from 1962 to 1967. While at BCHS, Gabriel played both football and basketball. He was a member of the Junior Basketball Championship team from 1965. He was honoured in 1967, with the M.M. Robinson Gold Medal for top student athlete at BCHS. Two memories that stick out in his mind from being a Trojan were, firstly, not making the football team in his grade ten year; and in his grade 13 year, scoring 48 points in a senior basketball game to completely outscore the entire Nelson team. Gabriel was active throughout high school playing junior football for the Burlington Braves under the direction of famed coach Bernie Custis. From there he attended Syracuse University from 1968–1971 where he played split-end for coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Following his time in college, he went on to have a legendary professional football career in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1971–1974, and with the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1975–1981.
Professional career
Gabriel's first CFL year with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1971, was rather mediocre, with only 20 catches for 265 yards and one touchdown. With rookie quarterback Chuck Ealey in 1972 Gabriel caught 49 passes for 733 yards and 3 scores during the season and helped the team win the Grey Cup over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. After the 1974 season he joined the Ottawa Rough Riders. With Ottawa he had five seasons of over 1,000 yards receiving, including four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978, with the other in 1981. In 1976 and 1977 Gabriel led the CFL in receiving yards with 1320 and 1362 respectively. There would not be another Canadian receiver with this accomplishment until the Stampeders' Dave Sapunjis in 1993. The 1976 Grey Cup game is perhaps what fans most remember of Gabriel, with his late fourth-quarter touchdown catch from Tom Clements that won the game over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In 1978 he was awarded the Schenley Award for the Most Valuable Player in the CFL, becoming the first Canadian to win the prize in almost 10 years. This feat was not repeated until 2013. In his career Gabriel was chosen ten consecutive times as the EFC/East Division's all-star tight end from 1972 to 1981. As well he was named to the league's all star team as the tight end in 1972 and from 1974 to 1980. The 1981 Grey Cup game saw the Rough Riders play the Edmonton Eskimos. Gabriel entered the game with a partial ligament tear in his left knee. Late in the game following a questionable penalty, Gabriel left the game when his knee finally gave out, never to play professionally again. At the time, Gabriel stood at third among the all-time receivers behind only Tom Scott and Tommy Joe Coffey. This also made him first among Canadian receivers. In his 11 seasons, he caught 614 passes for 9832 yards and 69 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in August 1985 and in November 2006, was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network/TSN.
Highlights
Sophomore Year – Syracuse University: Devil's Own Trophy: Top Student-Athlete
In June 2015, Gabriel retired after 35 years in the financial advising business. In June 2016, he married his former fiancée, Lyle Confrey. They are residing in both Burlington, Ontario and Newport, Rhode Island. He has three adult children.
