106-652: (Redirected from Most Outstanding Rookie ) Honor awarded to Canadian football players The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League . The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division , and the Jackie Parker Trophy winner from
212-528: A different city every year, selected two or more years in advance. The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cups with 19 wins total, most recently in 2024. In 2013, the Grey Cup was won at home for the third consecutive time (by the Saskatchewan Roughriders ), which had not been done since Toronto won at home from 1945 to 1947. In 2016, the Grey Cup was won on the natural grass turf of BMO Field by
318-469: A field large enough to accommodate the full 150-yard length and 65-yard width of a regulation CFL field. Even though they lacked an official name, the team finished second in the CFL East Division , with a 12–6 regular season record – more wins than any CFL expansion team before or since. In addition, the team was ranked third in the entire CFL in team scoring, and second in team defense. Mike Pringle
424-588: A greater emphasis on divisional play. Under the eighteen game format, each Eastern team played ten games within their division and eight games against Western opponents, thus playing two of the Western teams once (one at home and one on the road) and the other three Western teams twice, while playing two Eastern opponents three times and one division rival four times. Three of the Western teams played each division rival three times, two Eastern teams twice and two Eastern teams once. The remaining two Western teams played three of
530-936: A national craze in the late 19th century, the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation. The football team name Toronto Argonauts still remains even though it and the rowing club have long since gone their separate ways. After World War II, the Hamilton Tigers absorbed the upstart war-era Flying Wildcats and called the team the Hamilton Tiger-Cats . The league remained stable with nine franchises—the BC Lions , Calgary Stampeders , Edmonton Eskimos , Saskatchewan Roughriders , Winnipeg Blue Bombers , Hamilton Tiger-Cats , Toronto Argonauts , Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes —from its 1958 inception until 1981 . After
636-604: A new South Division , while the Canadian teams would reside in the North Division. Just before the start of the 1995 season, a name-the-team fan poll was held to decide a new team name. After the team finished the first week of its second season still calling itself "the Baltimore Football Club", the fan poll ended; Speros publicly announced that Baltimore's team would be known as the "Baltimore Stallions" . The name change
742-519: A new five-year collective bargaining agreement (from 2014 through the 2018 season) between the CFL and the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA). The Toronto Argonauts entered a period of transition off the field, with new ownership and a new stadium. The Argonauts were sold by politician/businessman David Braley to Bell Media and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum . At
848-480: A player with the Calgary Stampeders , Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league since Larry Smith left the position in 1997. On September 12, 2018, it was announced that Buffalo, New York –based New Era Cap Company would become the official apparel supplier of the CFL beginning in 2019, replacing Adidas . In October 2018,
954-755: A popular NFL team that suddenly moved literally overnight to Indianapolis in 1984. The former Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL) nominally represented Baltimore in spring 1985. However, after being blocked from Memorial Stadium , the Colts' old home, due to objections from the Major League Baseball Baltimore Orioles , they were forced to play well outside the city bounds in College Park . The Stars had planned to move to Memorial Stadium in fall 1986, but
1060-497: A re-branding for the CFL, including a new logo, motto, uniforms for all nine teams and website. After not having a drug enforcement policy in effect for the 2015 season the league and the CFLPA agreed to a new drug policy. In 2017, the Board of Governors and Jeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017; Orridge cited "differing views on the future of the league" between him and
1166-635: A semi-final against the champion of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU)–by then, the only amateur union still competing for the Grey Cup. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition after the 1953 season, and the WIFU champion was given an automatic berth in the Grey Cup final. For this reason, 1954 is reckoned as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, in which the Grey Cup has been exclusively contested by professional teams. Since 1965, Canada's top university football teams, competing in what
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#17328548935851272-426: A single game average of 28,193. The 2007 season was a recent high point with average game attendance of 29,167, the best since 1983. During Mark Cohon's time in office many of the teams either undertook major renovations to their existing stadiums, or constructed brand new stadiums. The Montreal Alouettes were the first to undertake this project, adding 5,000 seats to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in time for
1378-556: A special ceremony in the host city during the week before the Grey Cup game; this ceremony is broadcast nationally on TSN . The Annis Stukus Trophy , also known as the Coach of the Year Award, is awarded separately at a banquet held during the off-season each February. While the CFL has not held an all-star game since 1988 , an All-Star Team is selected and honoured at the league awards ceremony during Grey Cup week. The CFL Championship game,
1484-418: A tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded as Friday Night Football . CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005. The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular-season game was televised, as the league implemented an instant replay challenge system. In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband. Until
1590-623: 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 in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division . As of 2024 , it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks . This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following
1696-417: Is allowed the three days before the main camp opens. The pre-season exhibition schedule is two weeks long with each team playing two games against teams from its own division. The regular season is 21 weeks long, with games beginning in early June and finishing by late October. With 18 regular season games being played, each team gets three bye weeks. The CFL's nine current teams are divided into two divisions:
1802-835: Is now U Sports , have competed for the Vanier Cup . In 1956, the Montreal Alouettes threatened to leave the Big Four and join the rival WIFU. As a result, the Big Four and WIFU formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC) to modernize the operations and management of the professional game. In 1958 , the CFC formally left the CRU and reorganized as the Canadian Football League. As part of an agreement between
1908-524: Is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, only five crossover teams have won a semifinal since the rule's 1996 inception, and none of them have advanced to the Grey Cup). The winners of each division's semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the division finals. The two division champions then face each other in the Grey Cup game, which, since 2022 , has been held on
2014-615: The "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland , in the United States, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons . They were the most successful American team in the CFL's southern expansion into the United States , and by at least one account, the most winning expansion team in North American professional sports history at
2120-427: The 111th Grey Cup . Ambrosie had reportedly lost a vote of confidence among the league's owners a day prior. Notes Note: team franchise history is listed as it is recognized by the CFL in its publication CFL Guide and Record Book (2017) . Since 2022 , the CFL season has included: Team training camps open 28 days prior to the first regular season game of the season, a camp solely devoted to first year players
2226-533: The 2010 CFL season . The Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders also renovated their respective stadiums and facilities for the 2010 season. In 2011 , the BC Lions played under a new, retractable roof in BC Place after spending one and a half seasons at Empire Field . In 2013 , the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved to Investors Group Field, now known as Princess Auto Stadium , an entirely new stadium at
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#17328548935852332-762: The Banjo Bowl . Other features of the regular season schedule are the Hall of Fame Game and the Thanksgiving Day Classic , the one or two games held on Thanksgiving where the match ups usually do not feature traditional rivalries. From 2010 to 2013, a neutral site regular season game was played in Moncton under the name Touchdown Atlantic . The neutral site games returned in 2019 and were also played in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The league awards points based on regular season results (much like in most ice hockey leagues, but unlike
2438-460: The COVID-19 pandemic 2021 - Jordan Williams (LB), BC Lions 2022 - Dalton Schoen (WR), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2023 - Qwan'tez Stiggers (DB), Toronto Argonauts See also [ edit ] Frank M. Gibson Trophy Jackie Parker Trophy References [ edit ] ^ "CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League" . www.cfl.ca . Archived from
2544-434: The East Division with four teams and the West Division , with five teams. From the 1986 season until the COVID-19 pandemic (other than during the U.S. expansion when the league had twelve and thirteen teams) each team played two games against each of the other eight teams, plus two or four additional divisional games with opponents rotating each season. This format was changed when the league resumed play in 2021 to create
2650-492: The East Division , and concluding with a simulcast of the 111th Grey Cup ; returning the CFL to over-the-air television for the first time since 2007. As of 2024, the CFL's agreement with TSN, CTV and RDS runs through the 2026 CFL season. In 2013, the CFL announced that its U.S. broadcast rights would return to the ESPN Networks for the 2013 season, with five games airing on ESPN2 , and 55 airing on ESPN3 . This agreement
2756-596: The Fédération française de football américain [ fr ] would participate in the CFL national combine. Throughout early 2019, Ambrosie actively travelled Europe forming partnerships between the CFL and top-level European American football leagues and associations, specifically Germany ( GFL ), Austria ( AFL ), France (FFFA), the Nordic countries ( NL , VL , SS and NAFL) and Italy ( IFL ). By January 2020 football leagues from 13 countries had signed partnerships with
2862-673: The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU or more commonly known as the "Big Four"). It took almost 30 years for an elite interprovincial western union to emerge, when in 1936 the stronger senior clubs in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan formed the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Big Four and WIFU gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues, and amateur teams were no longer competitive for
2968-660: The National Football League , (NFL) to move his franchise to Baltimore for the 1996 season. The Stallions ownership group knew they had no reasonable prospect of successfully competing with the overwhelmingly more popular brand in their home country. Even before the agreement with Modell became official within a month of the Stallions' Grey Cup triumph, Stallions owner Jim Speros was actively seeking to re-locate his team elsewhere. Speros ultimately chose to move his football organization to Montreal , reconstituting itself as
3074-460: The Ottawa Redblacks beating the heavily favoured Calgary Stampeders 39–33 in overtime; the first Grey Cup championship for any Ottawa CFL team in 40 years. As the country's single largest annual sporting event, the Grey Cup has long served as an unofficial Canadian autumn festival generating national media coverage and a large amount of revenue for the host city. Many fans travel from across
3180-502: The Ottawa Rough Riders , in existence since 1876, folded after the 1996 season (another dispersal draft was conducted the next year to distribute the former Rough Rider players among the remaining eight teams). Toronto and recently revived Montreal also were struggling; Montreal's woes were solved by moving to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium , a much smaller venue than the cavernous Olympic Stadium . The Winnipeg team again moved to
3286-769: The Sacramento Gold Miners . After modest success, the league then expanded further in the U.S. in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse , Baltimore Stallions , and Shreveport Pirates . For the 1995 campaign, the American teams were split off into their own South Division, and two more teams, the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs , were added; at the same time, the Posse folded and the Gold Miners relocated to become
CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-518: The San Antonio Texans . In 1995, the Stallions became the only non-Canadian team to win the Grey Cup . Despite all American teams having the advantage of not being bound to the CFL's minimum Canadian player quotas, only the Stallions proved to be an on-field and off-field success. The establishment of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens , worsening financial problems among the league's core Canadian teams, and
3498-477: The University of Manitoba . The Hamilton Tiger-Cats began using their new stadium, Tim Hortons Field , after spending 2013 at University of Guelph's stadium and the first half of the 2014 season at McMaster University's football field following the demolition of the iconic Ivor Wynne Stadium . In 2014 the Ottawa Redblacks kicked off their inaugural season (having been awarded a franchise in 2008 ), becoming
3604-2804: The West Division . CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award winners [ edit ] 1972 - Chuck Ealey (QB), Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1973 - Johnny Rodgers (WR), Montreal Alouettes 1974 - Sam Cvijanovich (LB), Toronto Argonauts 1975 - Tom Clements (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders 1976 - John Sciarra (QB), BC Lions 1977 - Leon Bright (WR), BC Lions 1978 - Joe Poplawski (WR), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1979 - Brian Kelly (WR), Edmonton Eskimos 1980 - William Miller (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1981 - Vince Goldsmith (LB), Saskatchewan Roughriders 1982 - Chris Isaac (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders 1983 - Johnny Shepherd (RB), Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1984 - Dwaine Wilson (RB), Montreal Concordes 1985 - Mike Gray (DT), BC Lions 1986 - Harold Hallman (DT), Calgary Stampeders 1987 - Gil Fenerty (RB), Toronto Argonauts 1988 - Orville Lee (RB), Ottawa Rough Riders 1989 - Stephen Jordan (DB), Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1990 - Reggie Barnes (RB), Ottawa Rough Riders 1991 - Jon Volpe (RB), BC Lions 1992 - Mike Richardson (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1993 - Mike O'Shea (LB), Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1994 - Matt Goodwin (DB), Baltimore CFLers 1995 - Shalon Baker (WR), Edmonton Eskimos 1996 - Kelvin Anderson (RB), Calgary Stampeders 1997 - Derrell Mitchell (SB), Toronto Argonauts 1998 - Steve Muhammad (DB), BC Lions 1999 - Paul Lacoste (LB), BC Lions 2000 - Albert Johnson III (WR), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2001 - Barrin Simpson (LB), BC Lions 2002 - Jason Clermont (SB), BC Lions 2003 - Frank Cutolo (WR), BC Lions 2004 - Nikolas Lewis (WR), Calgary Stampeders 2005 - Gavin Walls (DE), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2006 - Aaron Hunt (DT), BC Lions 2007 - Cameron Wake (DE), BC Lions 2008 - Weston Dressler (SB), Saskatchewan Roughriders 2009 - Martell Mallett (RB), BC Lions 2010 - Solomon Elimimian (LB), BC Lions 2011 - Chris Williams (WR), Hamilton Tiger-Cats 2012 - Chris Matthews (WR), Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2013 - Brett Jones (OL), Calgary Stampeders 2014 - Dexter McCoil (LB), Edmonton Eskimos 2015 - Derel Walker (WR), Edmonton Eskimos 2016 - DaVaris Daniels (WR), Calgary Stampeders 2017 - James Wilder Jr. (RB), Toronto Argonauts 2018 - Lewis Ward (K), Ottawa Redblacks 2019 - Nate Holley (LB), Calgary Stampeders 2020 – Season cancelled due to
3710-698: The 1860s, and many of the first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in June 1880 then reorganized in February 1884. The CRFU was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891, and served as an umbrella organization for several provincial and regional unions. The Grey Cup was donated by Governor General the Earl Grey in 1909 to
3816-654: The 1981 season, the Alouettes folded and were replaced the next year by a new franchise named the Concordes. In 1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year. The loss of the Montreal franchise forced the league to move its easternmost Western team, Winnipeg, into the East Division from 1987 to 1994. In 1993 , the league admitted its first United States–based franchise,
3922-545: The 1995 season, the CFL decided to disband three of its five American franchises and return to its traditional East– West divisional alignment for the 1996 season. The two remaining American teams, Baltimore and San Antonio, were to be placed in the CFL's East Division. However, this strategy collapsed on the week of the South Division final, when longtime Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced he would be moving his team to Baltimore . Speros had initially not believed
4028-552: The 2002 and 2010 Men's Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Game. Currently, the official television broadcasters of CFL games are cable network TSN (which began televising CFL games in 1985 ), while TSN's French-language network RDS broadcasts Montreal Alouettes games for the Quebec television market. Games are typically scheduled for Thursday to Saturday evenings during June, July and August, but switch to more Saturday and Sunday afternoon games during September and October. TSN has created
4134-793: The Baltimore Colts' great Johnny Unitas . Speros's approach to building the team was simple. He knew Canadian football was very different from the American game , so he made a point of hiring personnel and players with CFL experience. In contrast, the other American CFL teams stocked their rosters with former NFL players, former college football players, and locally-known players. Speros hired career CFL assistant Jim Popp as general manager, and named longtime CFL coach Don Matthews as head coach. Popp and Matthews, in turn, brought in experienced CFL players like QB Tracy Ham , RB Mike Pringle , LB O. J. Brigance , DT Jearld Baylis , DE Elfrid Payton . One of
4240-400: The Board of Governors for the departure, with both sides stating the decision was mutual and amicable. His last day as commissioner was June 15, 2017. Jim Lawson , the CFL's Chair of the Board of Governors, took over the duties of interim Commissioner until a suitable replacement was found. On July 5, 2017, Randy Ambrosie succeeded Orridge as CFL commissioner. Having spent nine seasons as
4346-467: The CFL announcing that its global combine in 2020 with new rules, including two designated active-roster international players and three practice-squad international players with as many as 45 global players in the league. The league took over operations of the Montreal Alouettes prior to the 2019 season after Robert C. Wetenhall , the league's last non-Canadian owner, surrendered the franchise to
CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-640: The CFL began focusing marketing internationally again after the unsuccessful expansion into the United States during the 1990s, with Ambrosie's plan being called CFL 2.0 . Ambrosie partnered with the Professional American Football League of Mexico (LFA) for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally. Ambrosie also later announced a special edition of the CFL Combine to be held in 2019 in Mexico for Mexican players, which
4558-446: The CFL out of resentment towards the NFL, or even just as a means of pressuring the NFL to return. Whatever the case, the loss of support was so dramatic that the Stallions were forced to basically give away tickets for the South Division final. Even the Grey Cup victory celebration at Inner Harbor went almost unnoticed in the local media and the press, despite a few local dignitaries such as Mayor Kurt Schmoke attending. Even after
4664-407: The CFL, becoming the first openly gay player in the league's history. Sam left the team the day before the first preseason game, citing personal reasons. As reported by Fox Sports , Sam returned to Montreal to continue his professional football career. He left again on August 14, this time permanently, again citing personal reasons. Immediately following the 2015 season Jeffrey Orridge announced
4770-519: The CFL, these partnerships included mutual exchanging of players and coaches with leagues like the Mexican LFA holding reserved roster spots for Canadians with up to 25 playing in the league's 2020 season. In February 2020, the CFL expanded its global alliance system, welcoming the Japanese X-League , generally regarded the third-best professional gridiron league in the world. This coincided with
4876-459: The CRU and CFL, the CFL took possession of the Grey Cup, and the amateurs were officially locked out of Grey Cup play. However, the Grey Cup had been the de facto professional championship since 1954. The CRU remained the governing body for amateur play in Canada, eventually adopting the name Football Canada . Initially, the two unions remained autonomous, and there was no intersectional play between eastern (Big Four) and western (WIFU) teams except at
4982-452: The East Division from 1997 to 2001 to make up for the loss of Ottawa. In 1997, the NFL provided a US$ 3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid
5088-592: The Eastern opponents twice and one of the Eastern opponents once, while playing each other twice and the other Western teams three times. The CFL returned to the previous more balanced format beginning in the 2024 season . The most popular featured week in the CFL season is the Labour Day Classic , played over the course of the Labour Day weekend, where the matchups feature the first half of home-and-home series between
5194-476: The Grey Cup had the highest ever television ratings for a championship game in English Canada. During the 2000s the CFL had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh highest per-game attendance of any sports league worldwide . A 2006 survey conducted at the University of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL was the second most popular sports league in Canada, with
5300-683: The Grey Cup final. This situation was roughly analogous to how Major League Baseball operated for almost all of the 20th century. The Big Four was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in 1960 , while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in 1961 . Also in 1961, limited intersectional play was introduced. Because the West played 16 games by this time while the East still only played 14, this arrangement oddly allowed both
5406-451: The Grey Cup, previously held the record for the largest television audience in Canadian history. Television coverage on CBC, CTV and Radio-Canada of the 1983 Grey Cup attracted a viewing audience of 8,118,000 people as Toronto edged B.C. 18–17, ending a 31-year championship drought for the Argonauts. At the time, this represented 33% of the Canadian population. This has since been surpassed by
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#17328548935855512-425: The Grey Cup. Apart from the World War II years, an amateur team last won the Grey Cup in 1936. By the end of World War II, the WIFU's play was at the same level as that of the Big Four. Within a few years after the return of peace, both interprovincial unions had turned openly professional. However, while the Big Four champion got an automatic berth to the Grey Cup final, until 1954 the WIFU's champion had to play in
5618-403: The Lions' faithful; however, the Lions came back in the second half, winning by a score of 26–23 on a last-second Lui Passaglia field goal. After the 1994 season, the CFL announced that the League's five U.S. teams—Baltimore, the San Antonio Texans (the former Sacramento Gold Miners ), the Shreveport Pirates and the expansion Memphis Mad Dogs and Birmingham Barracudas —would be placed in
5724-414: The NFL's return to Baltimore became certain, Schmoke and other city leaders claimed that the Stallions could coexist with Modell's team, which was eventually reconstituted as the Baltimore Ravens . However, Speros and CFL officials soon realized that no matter how successful the Stallions had been, they had no realistic prospect of competing head-to-head with an NFL team. As the team's successful Grey Cup run
5830-445: The NFL, which strictly uses winning percentages to determine their standings; two points are awarded for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss). As of the 2021 season, in the event two or more teams in a division finish the season with the same number of points, the tie is broken based on the following criteria (in descending order), with coin tosses used if all such tie-breaker steps fail: The playoffs take place in November. After
5936-497: The Ravens and announced plans to move the franchise. He was actually very close to moving the franchise to Houston, Texas , to take advantage of the pending departure of the NFL's recently departed Houston Oilers from the Astrodome , with then- Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane as a minority partner. However, under prodding from CFL officials who believed the American experiment was a lost cause, Speros began talks with officials in Montreal . CFL commissioner Larry Smith believed
6042-443: The Stallions defeated the Texans 21–11 in the South final in what is (as of the 2024 season) the last meaningful CFL game played in the United States. This vaulted them to the Grey Cup final for the second straight season. They traveled to Regina 's Taylor Field to face the 15–3 North Division champion Stampeders, who were led by coach Wally Buono , QB Doug Flutie , and his two top receivers, Allen Pitts and Dave Sapunjis . During
6148-436: The Stallions franchise after the 1995 season and reclaimed the dormant Alouettes franchise. Consequently, when Speros moved the team to Montreal, all of the Stallions players were released from their contracts, though Popp managed to re-sign many of them. The current Alouettes claim the history of the 1946–1986 Alouettes as their own, and the CFL has recognized the Alouettes as having suspended operations from 1987 to 1995. As of
6254-459: The Stallions franchise and reconstitute his organization as the third and current incarnation of the Montreal Alouettes . Speros kept the Alouettes for only one year before selling the franchise to Robert C. Wetenhall in 1997. Sixteen former Baltimore Stallions players earned tryouts for NFL teams in 1996. The CFL does not officially consider the Stallions to be part of the Alouettes' history. According to official league records, Speros canceled
6360-435: The Stallions. Optimism became reality as Baltimore continued their on-field dominance from the previous season. They started the season 2–3, but did not lose another game for the rest of the season. They ultimately finished with a 15–3 regular season record – first place in the South Division, and tying the Calgary Stampeders for the best record in the CFL. Quarterback Tracy Ham with Mike Pringle and Robert Drummond were
6466-425: The country to attend the game and the week of festivities that lead up to it. Since 2015, the Grey Cup game's presenting sponsor is Shaw Communications . Following the Grey Cup game, the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian are selected. A number of league individual player awards, such as the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player , are awarded annually at
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#17328548935856572-443: The creation of the Ottawa Renegades . After four seasons of financial losses, the Renegades were suspended indefinitely before the 2006 season ; their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft. Winnipeg was moved to the East Division again in 2006, a situation that continued until 2013. In 2005 , the league set an all-time attendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million. In June 2006
6678-414: The defending CFL champions would be a better vehicle for bringing the CFL back to Montreal rather than what would have essentially been an expansion team. At a league meeting on February 2, 1996; Speros was granted permission to move the Stallions to Montreal, effectively ending the American experiment. Although Speros seriously considered whether to keep the Stallions name, he ultimately decided to give up
6784-399: The end of the 2007 season , CBC and RDS were the exclusive television broadcasters for all playoff games, including the Grey Cup , which regularly draws a Canadian viewing audience in excess of 4 million. In 2008 , the CFL began a new, five-year television deal with CTVglobemedia . Valued at $ 16 million per-year, it gave TSN and RDS exclusive rights to all CFL games, including
6890-412: The end of the 2016 season, team president Mark Weightman is the only remaining link between the Stallions and Alouettes. General manager Jim Popp followed the team to Montreal as general manager and guided the franchise to 8 Grey Cup Finals, winning 3 of them – giving him a total of 10 Grey Cup Finals appearances and 4 Grey Cups with the Stallions/Alouettes organization. Popp resigned as general manager at
6996-427: The expansion effort failed, entrepreneur and former Washington Redskins assistant Jim Speros was granted a CFL expansion franchise for Baltimore that would play in Memorial Stadium. Attempting to trade on the city's love for its long-lost Baltimore Colts, Speros adopted a color scheme that added silver to the Baltimore Colts' traditional colors of blue and white, as well as a stylized horse's head logo. He also invited
7102-401: The field was one obvious factor. However many fans were motivated to support the CFL out of antipathy towards the NFL, which had not only backed the re-location of the NFL Colts to Indianapolis, but had subsequently spurned several attempts to return an NFL franchise to the city. Another major factor in Baltimore's success at the gate was the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike , which wiped out
7208-436: The following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for the NHL . The NFL had 11% following, with a total of 26% following at least one of the pro football leagues. In other words, approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL, and about 55% follow the NFL. With the absence of Ottawa from 2006 to 2013, league attendance hovered around the 2 million mark. It stood at 2,029,875 in 2012 for
7314-516: The four-team Eastern Conference and the five-team Western Conference to play three games per intraconference opponent and one game per interconference opponent. It was not until 1974 that the East expanded its schedule to 16 games, just like the West. In 1981 , the two conferences agreed to a full merger, becoming the East and West Divisions of the CFL. With the merger came a fully balanced and interlocking schedule of 16 games per season (with all nine teams playing each other twice, once at home and once on
7420-471: The franchise's use of any version of "Colts" in their name just hours before the team was to play its first game. Speros not only had to discard tons of purchased merchandise and souvenirs along with an advertising campaign, but also had to quickly change the franchise's official name to the "Baltimore Football Club" (which some just called the "Baltimore CFL's" ) while keeping the team's distinctive horse's head logo. Local fans tended to continue referring to
7526-433: The game, 34–15. After the semifinal game, Baltimore ended up defeating the favored Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium 14–12 to become the first (and only) American and expansion team to make it to the Grey Cup . In the Grey Cup game, Baltimore was up against the B.C. Lions at BC Place Stadium in what amounted to a road game. Baltimore had the upper hand against the Lions, leading 17–10 at halftime and silencing
7632-461: The game, the winds at Taylor Field were particularly strong and gusted up to 85 km/h (52.8 mph). That did not slow down the Stallions, as they defeated the Stampeders, 37–20 to become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, with Tracy Ham becoming the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player . Counting the playoffs, the Stallions ended the season on a 16-game winning streak. In addition to being
7738-424: The inconsistent performance of the other American teams prompted the CFL to abandon its American experiment and retrench its Canadian operations. The Stallions organization was used as the basis for a revival of the Montreal Alouettes . The CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams; the league conducted a dispersal draft to distribute players from the disbanded American-based teams; however,
7844-465: The last two months of the Orioles' season. Baltimore was also a significantly more heavily populated market than the other CFL American markets and the only one to have previously hosted an NFL team, giving the Stallions a larger base from which to draw fans. Finally, the Stallions did not have to compete with college football for an audience to nearly the same extent as the other U.S. CFL franchises. After
7950-487: The league announced the launch of CFL Broadband, an internet streaming service designed to provide fans with another media platform, in addition to TSN and CBC broadcasts, to watch games live. With Mark Cohon as commissioner of the league the CFL entered a period of stability and growth. New television deals, two new collective bargaining agreements, the 100th Grey Cup celebration, and widespread stadium renovation and rebuilding highlighted this era. The 100th anniversary of
8056-626: The league failed before this could happen. In the years after the Colts left, Baltimore made two serious bids to get another NFL team. It heavily wooed the St. Louis Cardinals football team owned by the Bidwill family, but they ultimately moved to Phoenix, Arizona as the Phoenix (later Arizona) Cardinals . In 1993, an ownership group failed to win an NFL expansion franchise, the Baltimore Bombers . Soon after
8162-554: The league in May. The Alouettes found new ownership in January 2020 in Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern, whose holding company S and S Sportsco would oversee the team. On August 17, 2020, the CFL cancelled its 2020 season after coronavirus-related social distancing mandates and travel restrictions imposed in most of Canada prevented the league from selling tickets and
8268-497: The league was unable to secure a bailout from the federal government to cover any losses. It was the first cancelled season in the league's history, and the first year without a Grey Cup championship since the canceled 1916–1919 seasons. The league returned in 2021 , playing a shortened 14-game schedule which began that August, with the season concluding with the Grey Cup game in December for the first time since 1972. On March 10, 2021,
8374-541: The loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues have been attempting to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers Communications paid $ 78 million to host seven Bills games in Toronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the 2013 NFL season ). In 2002 , the league expanded back to nine teams with
8480-423: The more prominent NFL castoffs was K Donald Igwebuike ; the team also offered a tryout to former Super Bowl XXII champion, Timmy Smith , who had been out of football several years by that point, but Smith failed to make the regular season roster. It also helped that Memorial Stadium had been originally built to accommodate baseball as well as football. Using Memorial Stadium's baseball seating configuration gave it
8586-453: The most potent backfield in the CFL. Chris Armstrong became the team's top receiver and the defense continued dominating opponents by allowing only 369 points-against, ranking the squad third in team defense. Mike Pringle had a slight drop-off from his 1994 numbers by rushing for 1,791 yards, being named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player . After defeating Winnipeg 36–21 in the divisional semifinals,
8692-503: The most successful of the U.S. CFL teams on the field, Baltimore was far and away the most successful of the CFL's American teams at the box office. It had significant fan support and strong attendance – averaging 37,347 in 1994 (best in the CFL), and 30,112 in 1995 (second best). Fan support in Baltimore was driven by a number of factors not present in the CFL's other U.S. markets. Their success on
8798-437: The nickname for its reconstituted USFL / UFL franchise in the 2020's). Despite the changes to their name and team re-alignment, the Stallions returned with virtually the same roster for their next season. The exception was the signing of former Posse kicker Carlos Huerta to replace Igwebuike, who moved on to play with Memphis. With essentially the same team from the 1994 season, optimism and Grey Cup expectations were high for
8904-422: The old Baltimore Colts Marching Band , which had stayed together along with the old team's uniformed cheerleaders for over a decade, to play at his games. He recruited the remaining Baltimore Colts football fan clubs ("Colt Corrals") to follow and support the new CFL franchise. He initially called the team the " Baltimore CFL Colts ". However, the NFL went to court and successfully obtained a legal injunction against
9010-4319: The original on 2011-04-22. ^ https://www.cfl.ca/gibsons Archived 2015-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Gibsons Finest Player Awards v t e Canadian Football League Teams West Division BC Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Elks Saskatchewan Roughriders Winnipeg Blue Bombers East Division Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Ottawa Redblacks Toronto Argonauts Defunct Canada Ottawa Rough Riders Ottawa Renegades Atlantic Schooners (never played) CFL USA Baltimore Stallions Birmingham Barracudas Las Vegas Posse Memphis Mad Dogs Sacramento Gold Miners San Antonio Texans Shreveport Pirates San Antonio Texans (1993) (never played) Miami Manatees (never played) Awards West Division Nicklin Martin Fieldgate Parker DeMarco-Becket Dryburgh James East Division Evanshen Hayman McCaffrey Gibson Dandurand League-wide Grey Cup Grey Cup champions Grey Cup MVP Suderman Outstanding Player Canadian Defensive Player Offensive Lineman Rookie Stukus Pate Gaudaur Agro Commissioners Campbell Defunct Dominion champions Lineman Jeff Russel Gruen Rogers Ross Taylor Dixon Broadcasting Canada CBC CFN CTV TSN United States NBCSN ESPN2 ESPN CBS Sports Network Lists Current announcers Grey Cup TV markets Other Individual records Team records Coaching leaders Retired numbers Seasons Stadiums Mascots Video game Attendance Draft Combine CFLPA Hall of Fame All-Star Game Touchdown Atlantic Canada Day Games Labour Day Classic Banjo Bowl Thanksgiving Day Classic Top 50 Players Neutral site games Predecessor leagues Canadian Rugby Union Ontario Rugby Football Union Quebec Rugby Football Union [REDACTED] Category v t e Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Rookie Award 1972: Ealey 1973: Rodgers 1974: Cvijanovich 1975: Clements 1976: Sciarra 1977: Bright 1978: Poplawski 1979: Kelly 1980: Miller 1981: Goldsmith 1982: Isaac 1983: Shepherd 1984: Wilson 1985: Gray 1986: Hallman 1987: Fenerty 1988: Lee 1989: Jordan 1990: Barnes 1991: Volpe 1992: Richardson 1993: O'Shea 1994: Goodwin 1995: Baker 1996: Anderson 1997: Mitchell 1998: Muhammad 1999: Lacoste 2000: Johnson 2001: Simpson 2002: Clermont 2003: Cutolo 2004: Lewis 2005: Walls 2006: Hunt 2007: Wake 2008: Dressler 2009: Mallett 2010: Elimimian 2011: C. Williams 2012: Matthews 2013: Jones 2014: McCoil 2015: Walker 2016: Daniels 2017: Wilder 2018: Ward 2019: Holley 2021: J. Williams 2022: Schoen 2023: Stiggers 2024: Anderson Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CFL%27s_Most_Outstanding_Rookie_Award&oldid=1252437627 " Categories : Canadian Football League trophies and awards Rookie player awards Hidden categories: Webarchive template wayback links Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League ( CFL ); French : Ligue canadienne de football (LCF )
9116-574: The ownership of the Alouettes was transferred back to the CFL. Mario Cecchini was appointed as the interim President while the league sought to finalize a sale to new ownership. On March 10, Quebec media mogul and former Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau purchased the team. On April 11, 2024, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced league record revenue of $ 50.5 million and operating profit of $ 5.7 million. Ambrosie announced his resignation on October 26, 2024, to take effect following
9222-498: The playoffs and Grey Cup. In March 2013, TSN exercised an option to extend its contract through 2018. In 2015, the deal was extended for an additional three years, along with exclusive Grey Cup rights for Bell Media Radio stations. In June 2024, Bell Media announced that CTV would broadcast TSN-produced 2024 season coverage on digital terrestrial television , including a late-season package of exclusive 3 p.m. ET games beginning on September 7, continuing with playoff coverage of
9328-548: The regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs , which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in March 1936). Rugby football began to be played in Canada in
9434-434: The regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home berth in the division final, and a bye week during the division semifinal. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the division semifinal, unless a fourth-place team from one division finishes with a better record than a third place team in the other (this provision is known as the crossover rule , and while it implies that it
9540-453: The road). Since 1986 (with exception of 2021), the CFL's regular season schedule has been 18 games. The separate histories of the Big Four and the WIFU accounted for the fact that two teams had basically the same name: the Big Four's Ottawa Rough Riders were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU's Saskatchewan Roughriders were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". Other team names had traditional origins. With rowing
9646-505: The rumors of Modell courting Baltimore when they cropped up in September. However, when it emerged that Modell was in talks with state and local officials, Speros began scouting out cities for a possible move. This proved prescient; as soon as the move was announced, local support for the Stallions dried up almost overnight, with fans switching virtually en masse to the NFL. It quickly became apparent that most Stallions fans had only supported
9752-668: The start of the 2016 season the Argos moved to BMO Field after more than twenty seasons at the Rogers Centre (formerly called the SkyDome from 1989 to 2005). Construction on the New Mosaic Stadium for the Saskatchewan Roughriders was completed in October 2016 and the first game was played in the 2017 season . In 2015, Michael Sam signed a two-year contract with Montreal Alouettes of
9858-407: The team as the "Baltimore Colts" anyway, and team officials tacitly encouraged this. For example, for most of the 1994 season, Memorial Stadium's public address announcer, Jack Taylor, would announce the team as "your Baltimore CFL..." – followed by a pause, during which time the crowd shouted "COLTS!" – after which he would conclude, "...football team." Number 19 was never issued out of respect to
9964-552: The team winning the "Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada". By that time, the sport as played in Canada had diverged markedly from its rugby origins with the introduction of the Burnside rules , and started to become more similar to the American game . For much of the early part of the 20th century, the game was contested by intraprovincial leagues, or unions. In 1907, several of the stronger senior clubs in Ontario and Quebec formed
10070-429: The then-on hiatus XFL entered into talks with the CFL over the possibility of a future collaboration; these discussions were called off four months later with nothing coming of them. On August 29, 2022, Gary Stern of the Montreal Alouettes stepped away from day-to-day operations with the club and resigned from his role with the Canadian Football League's board of governors, effective immediately. On February 14, 2023,
10176-470: The third Ottawa franchise in CFL history. The new Ottawa franchise returned the league to a nine-team structure, with five teams in the West Division and four in the East; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved back to the West Division. The expansion Ottawa Redblacks played at the massively renovated Frank Clair Stadium , now branded as TD Place Stadium . In Mark Cohon's last year as commissioner he negotiated
10282-515: The third Sunday of November; for 2021, the game was played in December, which was the first time this had happened since 1972 . The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the CFL and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. The Grey Cup is the second-oldest trophy in North American professional sports, after the Stanley Cup. The Grey Cup game is hosted in one of the league's member cities. In recent years, it has been hosted in
10388-464: The third and current iteration of the Montreal Alouettes . The Stallions franchise was dissolved, thus becoming one of three Grey Cup champions in the modern era to subsequently fold (the others being the Ottawa Rough Riders and the original Alouettes). The CFL considers the Stallions to be a separate franchise from the Alouettes. For some 30 years, Baltimore had been home to the Baltimore Colts ,
10494-540: The time. They had winning records in each season, and in both years advanced to the championship game. In 1995, they became the only American franchise to win the Grey Cup . In the final weeks of the Stallions' second season, it became public knowledge that the Maryland Stadium Authority and City of Baltimore were in serious negotiations with Art Modell , the long-time owner of the Cleveland Browns of
10600-506: The traditional geographic rivalries of Toronto–Hamilton (a rivalry which began in 1873 ), Edmonton–Calgary (see Battle of Alberta ), Winnipeg–Saskatchewan, and Ottawa–Montreal. In years that Ottawa or Montreal were not in the league, BC played against one of these teams. The following week's rematch of these games is a popular event as well, especially in recent years, where the rematch of the Saskatchewan–Winnipeg game has been dubbed
10706-492: The venue to convert its grass field back and forth between the two leagues' specifications when the two leagues' seasons overlapped. In any case, the Stallions would have likely been evicted from Memorial Stadium anyways to make way for the Ravens. No other stadium in the Baltimore area was suitable or large enough even for temporary CFL use. Rather than risk being reduced to "minor league" status in Baltimore, Speros ceded Baltimore to
10812-501: Was a convenient one in that it allowed Baltimore's logo and colors to remain unchanged from the 1994 season. Notably, the Stallions nickname had previously been used by a United States Football League team in Birmingham , nevertheless it was still available for Speros' team. Barracudas owner Art Williams had previously rejected reviving the moniker for his club, apparently because he considered it too timid (Birmingham would later reclaim
10918-603: Was held on January 13, 2019. Ambroise said he wished the combine in Mexico to become annual, and that a combine could be held in Europe. On January 14, 2019, the league held a draft of LFA and Mexican university players where wide receiver Diego Viamontes was the first pick, selected by the Edmonton Eskimos. The CFL announced in February 2019 that German and French football players from the German Football League and
11024-616: Was renewed in 2014 for five years, the same length as the TSN deal (ESPN holds a stake in TSN), with a stipulation that at least 17 games would be carried on ESPN2 (or another ESPN network, such as ESPN or ESPNEWS ) each season, including the Grey Cup; this gives ESPN exclusive CFL rights during this time frame. Originally ESPN3 carried all games not carried on one of the linear channels online, later ESPN moved those games to ESPN+ . Baltimore CFLers The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as
11130-423: Was still underway, it became apparent that there would not be enough advertising revenue or fan support to go around. Even without that to consider, using Memorial Stadium would have posed a logistical nightmare once the NFL season began in September. The conditions set by the NFL to permit the Ravens to temporarily play at Memorial Stadium pending completion of a new stadium would have made it all but impossible for
11236-462: Was the team's offensive standout. Among other accomplishments, he earned the league's leading rushing title with a record 1,972 yards and thirteen touchdowns. Pringle also returned 38 kicks for 814 yards, which made him a CFL All-Star, Eastern All-Star, and a Terry Evanshen Trophy winner. In the playoffs, Baltimore hosted the Toronto Argonauts in the East semifinals at Memorial Stadium and won
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