1987 CFL season
| 1987 CFL season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | ||||
| Duration | June 21, 1987 – November 8, 1987 | |||
| Playoffs | ||||
| Start date | November 15, 1987 | |||
| East Champions | Toronto Argonauts | |||
| West Champions | Edmonton Eskimos | |||
| 75th Grey Cup | ||||
| Date | November 29, 1987 | |||
| Site | BC Place, Vancouver | |||
| Champions | Edmonton Eskimos | |||
| ||||
The 1987 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 34th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 30th Canadian Football League season.
CFL News in 1987
The Canadian Football League celebrated the 75th Annual Grey Cup game at BC Place Stadium on Sunday, November 29.
The Canadian Football Network, which was syndicated on Canadian television stations, was created by the league, taking the place of CTV, which ended its partnership with the CFL the previous season. The CFL experimented with their blackout policy by blacking out four televised games in both, Hamilton and Toronto (two in Hamilton and two in Toronto). The cable outlet TSN also began broadcasting the CFL in 1987, gaining the rights to games that had been passed on by CBC and CFN; TSN has aired CFL games ever since, eventually becoming the exclusive broadcaster in 2008.
Game rosters were revised from 35 to 34 that included 19 Non-Imports, 13 Imports and 2 Quarterbacks. The reserve list was increased from three to four.
After losing money for three years, Charles Bronfman sold the Concordes to Norm Kimball, who renamed them the Alouettes the previous year to renew interest in the team, but after losing money during the 1986 season, and playing before sparse Olympic Stadium crowds of less than 10,000, he, along with the CFL decided enough was enough, so they decided that the Montreal Alouettes would fold for the second time, this time for good on June 24. With the team's demise the CFL revised the season schedule and moved the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the East Division to balance out the divisions. The Alouettes, however, would return in 1996 when the CFL's American operations ended with the Baltimore Stallions moving to Montreal to become the current third and incarnation of the team.
The playoff format reverted to its pre-1986 form.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC Lions | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 502 | 370 | 24 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 617 | 462 | 22 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 453 | 517 | 20 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 364 | 529 | 11 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 554 | 409 | 24 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 484 | 427 | 23 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 470 | 509 | 14 |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 377 | 598 | 6 |
- Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
- BC and Winnipeg have first round byes.
Grey Cup playoffs
The Edmonton Eskimos are the 1987 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 38–36, at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. This game eventually became the battle of the backups when starters, Matt Dunigan and Gilbert Renfroe became injured leaving backups Damon Allen and Danny Barrett to take over. The Eskimos' Damon Allen (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Offence and Stewart Hill (DE) was named Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Defence, while Milson Jones (RB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.
Playoff bracket
| November 15: Division Semifinals | November 22: Division Finals | November 29: 75th Grey Cup @ BC Place Stadium – Vancouver, BC | |||||||||||
| East | E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 19 | ||||||||||
| E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 13 | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 3 | ||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 29 | E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 36 | ||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 38 | |||||||||||
| West | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 31 | ||||||||||
| W3 | Calgary Stampeders | 16 | W1 | BC Lions | 7 | ||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 30 | |||||||||||
CFL Leaders
1987 CFL All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Tom Clements, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- RB – Willard Reaves, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- RB – Gill Fenerty, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Darrell Smith, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Perry Tuttle, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – Brian Kelly, Edmonton Eskimos
- WR – Jim Sandusky, BC Lions
- C – Rod Connop, Edmonton Eskimos
- OG – Roger Aldag, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OG – Dan Ferrone, Toronto Argonauts
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- OT – Chris Schultz, Toronto Argonauts
Defence
- DT – Mike Walker, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- DT – Jerald Baylis, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – Greg Stumon, BC Lions
- DE – Bobby Jurasin, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- LB – James West, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- LB – Tyrone Jones, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- LB – Kevin Konar, BC Lions
- CB – Roy Bennett, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – James Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- DB – Larry Crawford, BC Lions
- DB – Ken Hailey, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- S – Scott Flagel, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Special teams
- P – Hank Ilesic, Toronto Argonauts
- K – Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
1987 Eastern All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Tom Clements, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- RB – Willard Reaves, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- RB – Gill Fenerty, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Darrell Smith, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Perry Tuttle, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – James Murphy, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – Steve Stapler, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- C – Ian Beckstead, Toronto Argonauts
- OG – Nick Bastaja, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- OG – Dan Ferrone, Toronto Argonauts
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- OT – Chris Schultz, Toronto Argonauts
Defence
- DT – Mike Walker, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- DT – Jerald Baylis, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – Grover Covington, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- DE – Rodney Harding, Toronto Argonauts
- LB – James West, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- LB – Tyrone Jones, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- LB – Frank Robinson, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- CB – Roy Bennett, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – James Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- DB – Howard Fields, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- DB – Ken Hailey, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- S – Scott Flagel, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Special teams
- P – Hank Ilesic, Toronto Argonauts
- K – Dean Dorsey, Ottawa Rough Riders
- ST – Darnell Clash, Toronto Argonauts
1987 Western All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Roy Dewalt, BC Lions
- RB – Gary Allen, Calgary Stampeders
- RB – Walter Bender (Canadian football), Saskatchewan Roughriders
- SB – Ray Elgaard, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- SB – Emanuel Tolbert, Calgary Stampeders
- WR – Brian Kelly, Edmonton Eskimos
- WR – Jim Sandusky, BC Lions
- C – Rod Connop, Edmonton Eskimos
- OG – Roger Aldag, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OG – Gerald Roper, BC Lions
- OT – John Blain, BC Lions
- OT – Hec Pothier, Edmonton Eskimos
Defence
- DT – James Curry, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- DT – Harold Hallman, Calgary Stampeders
- DE – Greg Stumon, BC Lions
- DE – Bobby Jurasin, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- LB – Dan Bass, Edmonton Eskimos
- LB – Glen Jackson, BC Lions
- LB – Kevin Konar, BC Lions
- CB – Keith Gooch, BC Lions
- CB – Harry Skipper, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- DB – Larry Crawford, BC Lions
- DB – Melvin Byrd, BC Lions
- S – Nelson Martin, BC Lions
Special teams
- P – Glenn Harper, Calgary Stampeders
- K – Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
1987 CFL Awards
- CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Tom Clements (QB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Scott Flagel (DS), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Stumon (DE), BC Lions
- CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Chris Walby (OT), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Gill Fenerty (RB), Toronto Argonauts
- CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Nick Arakgi (DE), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Coach of the Year – Bob O'Billovich, Toronto Argonauts