1991 CFL season
The 1991 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 38th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 34th Canadian Football League season.
| 1991 CFL season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regular season | ||
| Duration | July 11 – November 3, 1991 | |
| Playoffs | ||
| Start date | November 10, 1991 | |
| East Champions | Toronto Argonauts | |
| West Champions | Calgary Stampeders | |
| 79th Grey Cup | ||
| Date | November 24, 1991 | |
| Site | Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg | |
| Champions | Toronto Argonauts | |
| ||
CFL News in 1991
Harry Ornest sold the Toronto Argonauts to Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy on Monday, February 25. On Wednesday, July 24, the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Rough Riders resigned, causing the CFL to assume the ownership duties of the franchise, two days later. Three months later, the Rough Riders were sold by the CFL to Bernie and Lonie Glieberman on Saturday, October 19. Furthermore, the Calgary Stampeders was purchased by Larry Ryckman from Stampeder Football Club Limited on Friday, October 24.
All eight clubs combined for a record 64.2 points per game and attendance figures broke the 2 million mark for the 10th time in CFL history (2,001,858). The Grey Cup game was hosted by the city of Winnipeg for the first time on Sunday, November 24. In that game, the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Calgary Stampeders 36–21 in front of 51,985 football fans. The Grey Cup game was also the most-watched Canadian television show with an audience of 3,531,000 viewers.
J. Donald Crump resigned as CFL Commissioner on Tuesday, December 31.
After the shutdown of the Canadian Football Network, this left the CFL with two television outlets: CBC Television, which had coverage for some regular season games and exclusive coverage of all CFL playoff games, including the Grey Cup game, and TSN on cable, airing some regular season games.
Regular season standings
Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 671 | 569 | 24 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 596 | 552 | 22 |
| BC Lions | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 661 | 587 | 22 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 606 | 710 | 12 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 647 | 526 | 26 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 516 | 499 | 18 |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 522 | 577 | 14 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 400 | 599 | 6 |
- Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
- Edmonton and Toronto have first round byes.
Grey Cup playoffs
The Toronto Argonauts are the 1991 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Calgary Stampeders 36–21, at Winnipeg Stadium. This was the first championship for the Argonauts in eight years. The Argonaut's Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (WR) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Stampeder's Dave Sapunjis (SB) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.
Playoff bracket
| November 10: Division Semifinals | November 17: Division Finals | November 24: 79th Grey Cup @ Winnipeg Stadium – Winnipeg, MB | |||||||||||
| East | E2 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 3 | ||||||||||
| E3 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 8 | E1 | Toronto Argonauts | 42 | ||||||||
| E2 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 26 | E1 | Toronto Argonauts | 36 | ||||||||
| W2 | Calgary Stampeders | 21 | |||||||||||
| West | W2 | Calgary Stampeders | 38 | ||||||||||
| W3 | BC Lions | 41 | W1 | Edmonton Eskimos | 36 | ||||||||
| W2 | Calgary Stampeders | 43 | |||||||||||
1991 CFL All-Stars
Offence
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Defence
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Special teams
- P – Hank Ilesic, Toronto Argonauts
- K – Lance Chomyc, Toronto Argonauts
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
1991 Eastern All-Stars
Offence
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Defence
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Special teams
- P – Hank Ilesic, Toronto Argonauts
- K – Lance Chomyc, Toronto Argonauts
- ST – Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, Toronto Argonauts
1991 Western All-Stars
Offence
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Defence
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Special teams
- P – Brent Matich, Calgary Stampeders
- K – Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
1991 CFL Awards
- CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Doug Flutie (QB), BC Lions
- CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Blake Marshall (FB), Edmonton Eskimos
- CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Battle (LB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Jim Mills (OT), BC Lions
- CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Jon Volpe (RB), BC Lions
- CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Stu Laird (LB), Calgary Stampeders
- CFL's Coach of the Year – Adam Rita, Toronto Argonauts
- Commissioner's Award - Jake Matheson, Winnipeg