1987 CFL season

1987 CFL season
DurationJune 21 – November 8, 1987
East championsToronto Argonauts
West championsEdmonton Eskimos
75th Grey Cup
DateNovember 29, 1987
VenueBC Place, Vancouver
ChampionsEdmonton Eskimos
CFL seasons
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Canadian Football League team locations: West, East

The 1987 CFL 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

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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.[1] 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;[1] TSN has aired CFL games ever since, eventually becoming the exclusive broadcaster in 2008. The CFL made money off the CBC and TSN agreements, money that largely covered the startup costs for CFN for the first year.[1]

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. Even with these reductions, all eight remaining CFL teams lost money.[1]

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 folded the Montreal Alouettes for the second time, this time for good on June 24 (the first week of the regular season), after the team played two preseason games on the road.[1] With the team's demise the CFL (reduced to eight teams) 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 third and current incarnation of the team.

In January 1987, the league rejected a proposal from Arizona Outlaws owner Bill Tatham to allow the Outlaws, then without a league after the collapse of the United States Football League, to play in the CFL.[2]

The single-elimination Semi-Final/Final playoff format (in use since 1972) that was scrapped last season in favour of the "total point series" format was restored; the crossover playoff format was not revisited until 1997.

Regular season standings

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Final regular season standings

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Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points

West Division
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
East Division
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

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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

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November 15: Division Semifinals November 22: Division Finals November 29: 75th Grey Cup @ BC Place StadiumVancouver, BC
         
E2 Toronto Argonauts 19
East
E1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 3
E3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 13
E2 Toronto Argonauts 29
E2 Toronto Argonauts 36
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 38
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 31
West
W1 BC Lions 7
W3 Calgary Stampeders 16
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 30

CFL Leaders

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1987 CFL All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1987 Eastern All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1987 Western All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1987 CFL Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Hickey, Pat (November 11, 1987). "CFL May Be Beyond Rescuing". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved January 2, 2014 – via Chicago Tribune.
  2. ^ "New football league hope slim // CFL 'lukewarm' to merger with the defunct USFL", Chicago Sun-Times, February 18, 1987, archived from the original on March 9, 2016, retrieved July 4, 2012
  3. ^ "CFLapedia".