1996 CFL season

Canadian Football League season August 2024 August 2024 1996 CFL season June 23 – November 3, 1996 East Toronto Argonauts West Edmonton Eskimos 84th Grey Cup November 24, 1996 Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton Toronto Argonauts 1995 CFL season 1995 1997 CFL season 1997 List of Canadian Football League seasons CFL The 1996 CFL season is considered to be the 43rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 39th Canadian Football League season. CFL news in 1996 At the CFL's Board of Governors Meetings in February 1996, it was decided to end the league's four-year American experiment. The Shreveport Pirates had already disbanded; the league folded the Memphis Mad Dogs and rejected a sale and relocation plan that would have allowed the Birmingham Barracudas to move to Shreveport and survive, forcing that team's closure as well. The Grey Cup champion Baltimore Stallions had opted to move elsewhere rather than face the daunting prospect of competing with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. When it was apparent the CFL was refocusing on Canada, Stallions owner Jim Speros gave up the Stallions franchise and moved his organisation to Montreal as the third iteration of the Montreal Alouettes. Up until this time, the city of Montreal had been without Canadian football for nine seasons. Speros revived the Als' traditional colour scheme of blue, white, and red. Their logo was an angry bird running with a football; it was their helmet logo until 2019. Unwilling to continue as the lone American team in the league, the San Antonio Texans voluntarily folded. A dispersal draft was held for the players on four of the five American teams—all except the Stallions. However, all of the Stallions players were released from their contracts. Alouettes general manager Jim Popp, who followed the Stallions organisation to Montreal, managed to re-sign many of them; he was limited to half of the Alouettes roster, since the Stallions as an American team were not subject to the league's requirement that half of a team's roster comprise Canadian citizens, and the Alouettes would be subject to that rule. To stock the roster with Canadians, a special expansion draft, in which only the Canadian citizens on each other team's roster were subject, was held to stock the Alouettes' roster. With the removal of the American teams, the CFL reverted to its traditional "East-West" alignment. The revived Alouettes were placed in the East Division and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were placed back into the West Division, after 10 seasons. The BC Lions and the Calgary Stampeders underwent ownership changes. Regular season standings Final regular season standings Calgary and Toronto both have first round byes. Grey Cup playoffs 84th Grey Cup The Toronto Argonauts are the 1996 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 43–37, at Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium. The Argonauts' Doug Flutie (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Mike Vanderjagt (K) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian. Playoff bracket November 9 & 10: Division Semifinals November 16 & 17: Division Finals November 24: 84th Grey Cup @ Ivor Wynne Stadium – Hamilton, ON 1 East West E3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 11 E2 Montreal Alouettes 22 W3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 W2 Edmonton Eskimos 68 E2 Montreal Alouettes 7 E1 Toronto Argonauts 43 W2 Edmonton Eskimos 15 W1 Calgary Stampeders 12 W2 Edmonton Eskimos 37 E1 Toronto Argonauts 43 CFL leaders CFL passing leaders CFL rushing leaders CFL receiving leadersCFLapedia http://www.cflapedia.com/ 1996 CFL All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Doug Flutie, Toronto Argonauts FB – Robert Drummond, Toronto Argonauts RB – Robert Mimbs, Saskatchewan Roughriders SB – Michael Soles, Montreal Alouettes SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos WR – Joseph Rogers, Ottawa Rough Riders WR – Eddie Brown, Edmonton Eskimos C – Mike Kiselak, Toronto Argonauts OG – Rocco Romano, Calgary Stampeders OG – Leo Groenewegen, Edmonton Eskimos OT – Chris Perez, Toronto Argonauts OT – Fred Childress, Calgary Stampeders 25em break Defence DT – Rob Waldrop, Toronto Argonauts DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos DE – Malvin Hunter, Edmonton Eskimos DE – Grant Carter, Montreal Alouettes LB – Tracy Gravely, Montreal Alouettes LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos LB – K. D. Williams, Winnipeg Blue Bombers CB – Al Jordan, Calgary Stampeders CB – Marvin Coleman, Calgary Stampeders DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos DB – Charles Gordon, Montreal Alouettes DS – Trent Brown, Edmonton Eskimos end Special teams P – Paul Osbaldiston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats K – Mark McLoughlin, Calgary Stampeders ST – Jimmy Cunningham, Toronto Argonauts 1996 Western All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Jeff Garcia, Calgary Stampeders FB – Sean Millington, BC Lions RB – Robert Mimbs, Saskatchewan Roughriders SB – Allen Pitts, Calgary Stampeders SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos WR – Terry Vaughn, Calgary Stampeders WR – Eddie Brown, Edmonton Eskimos C – Rod Connop, Edmonton Eskimos OG – Rocco Romano, Calgary Stampeders OG – Leo Groenewegen, Edmonton Eskimos OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Fred Childress, Calgary Stampeders 25em break Defence DT – Rodney Harding, Calgary Stampeders DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos DE – Malvin Hunter, Edmonton Eskimos DE – Leroy Blugh, Edmonton Eskimos LB – Angelo Snipes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos LB – K. D. Williams, Winnipeg Blue Bombers CB – Al Jordan, Calgary Stampeders CB – Marvin Coleman, Calgary Stampeders DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos DB – Andre Strode, BC Lions DS – Trent Brown, Edmonton Eskimos end Special teams P – Tony Martino, Calgary Stampeders K – Mark McLoughlin, Calgary Stampeders ST – Marvin Coleman, Calgary Stampeders 1996 Eastern All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Doug Flutie, Toronto Argonauts FB – Robert Drummond, Toronto Argonauts RB – Mike Pringle, Montreal Alouettes SB – Mac Cody, Hamilton Tiger-Cats SB – Jock Climie, Montreal Alouettes WR – Joseph Rogers, Ottawa Rough Riders WR – Paul Masotti, Toronto Argonauts C – Mike Kiselak, Toronto Argonauts OG – Bruce Beaton, Montreal Alouettes OG – Blaine Schmidt, Hamilton Tiger-Cats OT – Chris Perez, Toronto Argonauts OT – Neal Fort, Montreal Alouettes 25em break Defence DT – Rob Waldrop, Toronto Argonauts DT – Mike Philbrick, Hamilton Tiger-Cats DE – Reggie Givens, Toronto Argonauts DE – Grant Carter, Montreal Alouettes LB – Tracy Gravely, Montreal Alouettes LB – Paul Randolph, Montreal Alouettes LB – Lamar McGriggs, Ottawa Rough Riders CB – Irvin Smith, Montreal Alouettes CB – Adrion Smith, Toronto Argonauts DB – Kenny Wilhite, Ottawa Rough Riders DB – Charles Gordon, Montreal Alouettes DS – Spencer McLennan, Montreal Alouettes end Special teams P – Paul Osbaldiston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats K – Terry Baker, Montreal Alouettes ST – Jimmy Cunningham, Toronto Argonauts 1996 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Doug Flutie, Toronto Argonauts OT – Chris Perez, Toronto Argonauts OT – Mark Dixon, Montreal Alouettes OG – Rocco Romano, Calgary Stampeders OG – Jamie Taras, BC Lions C – Mike Kiselak, Toronto Argonauts RB – Rob Mimbs, Saskatchewan Roughriders FB – Tony Burse, Edmonton Eskimos SB – Maclin Cody, Hamilton Tiger-Cats SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos WR – Curtis Mayfield, Saskatchewan Roughriders WR – Terry Vaughn, Calgary Stampeders 25em break Defence DE – Grant Carter, Montreal Alouettes DE – Leroy Blugh, Edmonton Eskimos DT – John Kropke, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DT – Rob Waldrop, Toronto Argonauts OLB – Angelo Snipes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OLB – K. D. Williams, Winnipeg Blue Bombers ILB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos CB – Donald Smith, Toronto Argonauts CB – Marvin Coleman, Calgary Stampeders HB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos HB – Charles Gordon, Montreal Alouettes S – Greg Knox, Calgary Stampeders end 25em start Special teams K – Mark McLoughlin, Calgary Stampeders P – Paul Osbaldiston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats ST – Jimmy Cunningham, Toronto Argonauts 25em break Head coach Don Matthews, Toronto Argonauts end 1996 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars 1996 CFL awards CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Doug Flutie (QB), Toronto Argonauts CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Leroy Blugh (DE), Edmonton Eskimos CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Willie Pless (LB), Edmonton Eskimos CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Mike Kiselak (C), Toronto Argonauts CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Kelvin Anderson (RB), Calgary Stampeders CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Mike "Pinball" Clemons (RB), Toronto Argonauts CFL's Coach of the Year – Ron Lancaster, Edmonton Eskimos Commissioner's Award - John Tory, Toronto References Further reading Canadian Football League 1996 Facts, figures and records 1996 Canadian Football League Toronto 978-1-55144-139-9 https://archive.org/details/1996factsfigures0000cana registration Category:Canadian Football League seasons CFL