2007 CFL season

Canadian Football League season August 2024 August 2024 2007 CFL season June 28 – November 3, 2007 East Winnipeg Blue Bombers West Saskatchewan Roughriders 95th Grey Cup November 25, 2007 Rogers Centre, Toronto 2006 CFL season 2006 2008 CFL season 2008 List of Canadian Football League seasons CFL The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 50th season of the Canadian Football League, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario and concluded on November 3. The playoffs began on November 11 and ended with the championship game, the 95th Grey Cup, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, on November 25, 2007, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as champions. CFL news in 2007 Schedule On February 14, 2007, the CFL announced the game schedule for the 2007 season, introducing a 19-week schedule that included 18 regular-season games and one bye week for each team. Bye weeks were taken consecutively by each division beginning with the East in Week 8, creating two weeks of divisional rivalry games. The year's regular-season schedule kicked off on Canada Day weekend and included the CFL's annual traditional rivalries — highlighted by the Labour Day and Thanksgiving Classics. The Canadian Football Hall of Fame game returned to Ivor Wynne Stadium on induction weekend and featured the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on September 15. The regular-season concluded with a triple-header on Saturday, November 3, as teams finalized post-season positioning before the Division Semi-Finals began eight days later on Sunday, November 11. The CFL's Division Championships qualified the season's two Grey Cup competing teams one week later on November 18. The 2007 season officially concluded with the 95th Grey Cup on Sunday, November 25, returning to Toronto for the first time since 1992. Television On February 28, 2007, the CFL announced details of the 2007 broadcast schedule which included all 77 games broadcast across the country by partners TSN, CBC or RDS. The year's regular season schedule saw 50 games aired on TSN, which were also carried live on TSN Broadband, 22 games on CBC and a minimum of 16 Montreal Alouettes' games on RDS. Coverage of the entire post-season, including the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, Ontario, returned to CBC and RDS in the fall. The 2007 season would be the CBC's final season as a CFL broadcaster for the foreseeable future, as the CFL and TSN began an exclusive deal with the 2008 CFL season. It would also be the last CFL season to be carried on any over-the-air broadcaster for 17 years, as it would not be until 2024 that TSN—which had repeatedly renewed its exclusive deal with the CFL multiple times after its initial 5-year term—sub-licensed any CFL content to sister network CTV.Star-Studded New Series, Returning Hits, and Live Events to Anchor CTV's 2024/25 Schedule https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/star-studded-new-series-returning-hits-and-live-events-to-anchor-ctvs-2024-25-schedule/ 2024-06-06 Bell Media en TSN's 50-game CFL broadcast schedule became available for the first time ever on multiple TSN distribution platforms. All 50 games aired live on TSN and TSN Broadband, with a minimum of 35 broadcasts produced and televised in High Definition on TSN HD. The majority of HD telecasts aired Friday nights during the 11th season of Wendy's Friday Night Football. TSN's broadcast schedule got underway on June 28 with a season opening double-header featuring BC at Toronto followed by Winnipeg at Edmonton. Additional highlights included two Grey Cup rematches featuring Montreal vs. BC (Aug. 31 and Sept. 9), the traditional Labour Day Classic Weekend with Winnipeg at Saskatchewan (Sept. 2) and the Hall of Fame Game featuring Winnipeg at Hamilton (Sept. 15). The first of 22 CFL on CBC regular-season games aired on Saturday, June 30 when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats played the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium. CBC's regular-season line-up featured the first-ever CFL on CBC triple-header as well as the traditional double-headers, the Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day Classics. League Attendance The CFL's average attendance for 2007 was 29,167, which is the highest average since the 1983 CFL season.http://greycup.cfl.ca/page/grey-cup-history-timeline-2000 CFL.ca August 7, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20120917190207/http://greycup.cfl.ca/page/grey-cup-history-timeline-2000 September 17, 2012 dead mdy-all CFL in Ottawa The Ottawa franchise did not play in the 2007 season. The CFL indicated that there was not enough time for a potential new owner to get the franchise up and running until 2009 at the earliest.http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=179110&hubname=cfl TSN August 7, 2015 dead TSN : CFL - Canada's Sports Leader January 20, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080120233830/http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=179110&hubname=cfl Salary Management System 2007 was the first year the new salary cap and salary management system was enforced. The cap was set at $4.05 million and it demonstrated its successful implementation as six clubs were under the salary expenditure cap while two teams exceeded and were penalized.http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=179287&hubname=cfl TSN August 7, 2015 dead TSN : CFL - Canada's Sports Leader January 20, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080120231359/http://tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=179287&hubname=cfl The Saskatchewan Roughriders were fined, as were the Montreal Alouettes, who also lost a first round draft pick at the 2008 CFL Canadian Draft. New Commissioner On March 12, 2007, Mark Cohon was named the CFL's 12th commissioner. The son of McDonald's of Canada founder George Cohon succeeded Tom Wright. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cohon moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was two years old. Cohon is a graduate of Chicago's Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science with a major in communication studieshttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060502.gtsrtop40/BNStory/National/?pageRequested=all Top 40 under 40 Globe and Mail Canada March 28, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070427021128/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060502.gtsrtop40/BNStory/National/?pageRequested=all April 27, 2007 live and was a business consultant to environmental and youth organizations in Torontohttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E2DE1530F934A25752C1A9649C8B63 WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Suzanne Lucido, Mark Cohon The New York Times March 28, 2007 November 17, 2002 before becoming president and chief executive officer of AudienceView Ticketing, a company which sells ticketing systems and services to sports, arts and entertainment events. In 2006, he was appointed new chair of the Ontario Science Centre. He was appointed to the board of trustees in 2003.http://www.culture.gov.on.ca/english/about/n141105.htm MINISTER OF CULTURE NAMES MARK COHON NEW CHAIR OF THE ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE Ontario Ministry of Culture March 28, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070205064451/http://www.culture.gov.on.ca/english/about/n141105.htm February 5, 2007 dead mdy-all Rule Changes The "Ricky Williams Rule" Outgoing CFL commissioner Tom Wright, stated that a rule will be introduced before the start of next season that would prevent a player under suspension in the National Football League from signing with a CFL club. Some columnists dubbed this "The Ricky Williams Rule" because the running back joined the Toronto Argonauts after the NFL suspended him for the 2006 season for failing its substance abuse program for the fourth time.https://www.thestar.com/article/154141 thestar.com - Toronto Star - Canada's largest daily thestar.com August 7, 2015 Illegal Movement This rule will penalize offensive linemen 5 yards for abrupt snap down into 2 or 3 point stance. This rule is aimed at eliminating a tactic by offensive linemen, solely designed to draw the defence offside. Kick from Scrimmage On a kick from scrimmage going out of bounds in flight between the 20-yard lines, the receiving team will have the option of taking possession at the point the ball went out of bounds in flight, or having a 10-yard penalty applied against the kicking team at the point of the last scrimmage, with the down repeated. This forces the kicking team on punts and field goal attempts to land the ball in the field of play. Unnecessary roughness Any player in possession of the ball, who falls to the ground without contact and is not attempting to advance the ball, may only be touched down and may not be contacted in any other manner. Players on the ground are in an extremely vulnerable position and should be protected from excessive contact. Horse-collar tackles will be penalized. Contact above the shoulders on the long snapper will be penalized. Roughing the Passer Contact below a quarterback's knees will no longer be accepted. Defensive players may no longer lead with the head or use the head as the primary contact point to hit a passer. Ducking the head and launching at a passer is not acceptable. In the 2006 season, Spergon Wynn was the victim of such a hit at the hands of Scott Schultz.http://www.scott-schultz.com/Images/DSC_7082.jpg Photo of Scott Schultz hit on Spergon Wynn in 2006 March 24, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070615045249/http://www.scott-schultz.com/Images/DSC_7082.jpg June 15, 2007 dead mdy-all There was no penalty on the play, although Schultz was subsequently fined. Blocking on Kick Returns Players on the return team will once again be allowed to block oncoming tacklers from the sides. This was the rule until 2006, when the CFL outlawed blocks on the back of the side, leading to the temporary demise of the kick return touchdown. In 2006, there were only three touchdowns from kick returns, compared to eighteen in 2005. In addition to fewer touchdowns being scored, shorter kick returns lead to offences having to cover a larger portion of the field to score a touchdown, leading to more field goals and fewer touchdowns. With the long kick returns coming back in 2007, it was expected that games would be higher scoring and more exciting. Records and Milestones List of Canadian Football League records Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback, Milt Stegall passed Mike Pringle and George Reed for the most career touchdowns with 137 on July 27. By the end of the season he had 144 career touchdowns and, with 14,695 career receiving yards, was trying to pass Allen Pitts all-time league record of 14,891 receiving yards. Toronto Argonauts slotback, Derrell Mitchell surpassed Paul Masotti as the franchise's all-time leading receiver on July 26. Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back, Charles Roberts passed Leo Lewis to become the franchise's all-time leading rusher on September 2. BC running back, Joe Smith broke former Lion great Cory Philpot's franchise single season rushing record on October 28. Regular season Grey Cup Playoffs 95th Grey Cup The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the 2007 Grey Cup Champions, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23–19 at Toronto's Rogers Centre. It was the first Grey Cup for the Roughriders since they won it in 1989, ending an 18-year drought. The Roughriders' James Johnson (DB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Andy Fantuz (SB) was named as the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian. Playoff bracket November 11: Division Semifinals November 18: Division Finals November 25: 95th Grey CupRogers Centre – Toronto 1 East West E2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24 E3 Montreal Alouettes 22 W2 Saskatchewan Roughriders 26 W3 Calgary Stampeders 24 E1 Toronto Argonauts 9 E2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19 W1 BC Lions 17 W2 Saskatchewan Roughriders 26 E2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19 W2 Saskatchewan Roughriders 23 CFL leaders CFL passing leaders CFL rushing leaders CFL receiving leadersCFLapedia http://www.cflapedia.com/ 2007 CFL All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Kerry Joseph, Saskatchewan Roughriders WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Jason Clermont, BC Lions WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Geroy Simon, BC Lions RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers RB – Joe Smith, BC Lions OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Rob Murphy, BC Lions OG – Kelly Bates, BC Lions OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes C – Jeremy O'Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders 25em break Defence DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DT – Tyrone Williams, BC Lions LB – Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions DB – Kenny Wheaton, Toronto Argonauts CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts DS – Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts end Special teams K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes ST – Ian Smart, BC Lions 2007 Western All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Kerry Joseph, Saskatchewan Roughriders WR – Jason Clermont, BC Lions WR – D.J. Flick, Saskatchewan Roughriders WR – Nik Lewis, Calgary Stampeders WR – Geroy Simon, BC Lions RB – Joffrey Reynolds, Calgary Stampeders RB – Joe Smith, BC Lions OT – Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan Roughriders OT – Rob Murphy, BC Lions OG – Kelly Bates, BC Lions OG – Jay McNeil, Calgary Stampeders C – Jeremy O'Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders 25em break Defence DE – Fred Perry, Saskatchewan Roughriders DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions DT – Aaron Hunt, BC Lions DT – Tyrone Williams, BC Lions LB – Otis Floyd, BC Lions LB – Reggie Hunt, Saskatchewan Roughriders LB – Maurice Lloyd, Saskatchewan Roughriders DB – Korey Banks, BC Lions DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions CB – Lavar Glover, BC Lions CB – James Johnson, Saskatchewan Roughriders DS – Barron Miles, BC Lions end Special teams K – Sandro DeAngelis, Calgary Stampeders P – Paul McCallum, BC Lions ST – Ian Smart, BC Lions 2007 Eastern All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Kevin Glenn, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Ben Cahoon, Montreal Alouettes WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Milt Stegall, Winnipeg Blue Bombers RB – Jesse Lumsden, Hamilton Tiger-Cats RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Alexandre Gauthier, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes OG – Taylor Robertson, Toronto Argonauts C – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 25em break Defence DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts DE – Tom Canada, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DT – Adriano Belli, Toronto Argonauts DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers LB – Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DB – Randee Drew, Montreal Alouettes DB – Kenny Wheaton, Toronto Argonauts CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts DS – Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts end Special teams K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes ST – Dominique Dorsey, Toronto Argonauts 2007 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars 25em start Offence QB – Kevin Glenn, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT – Patrick Kabongo, Edmonton Eskimos OG – Andrew Greene, Winnipeg Blue Bombers OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes C – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers FB – Chris Szarka, Saskatchewan Roughriders SB – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers SB – Milt Stegall, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR – Kamau Peterson, Edmonton Eskimos 25em break Defence DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers DT – Adriano Belli, Toronto Argonauts LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats LB – JoJuan Armour, Hamilton Tiger-Cats CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts HB – Korey Banks, BC Lions HB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions S – Barron Miles, BC Lions end 25em start Special teams K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats ST – Dominique Dorsey, Toronto Argonauts P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes 25em break Head coach Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders end http://cflpa.com/index.php?module=page&id=5040 CFLPA.com August 7, 2015 2007 Rogers CFL Awards CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Kerry Joseph (QB), Saskatchewan Roughriders CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Jason Clermont (SB), BC Lions CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Cameron Wake (DE), BC Lions CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Rob Murphy (OG), BC Lions CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Cameron Wake (DE), BC Lions CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award – Ian Smart (RB), BC Lions CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Milt Stegall (SB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers Rogers Fans' Choice Award – Charles Roberts (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL's Scotiabank Coach of the Year – Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders Commissioner's Award – Keith Pelley, Toronto https://www.cfl.ca/article/2007_rogers_cfl_player_awards A2007 Rogers CFL Player Awards November 22, 2007 CFL November 27, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20080628032135/http://www.cfl.ca/article/2007_rogers_cfl_player_awards June 28, 2008 dead Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award - Bob Ackles, BC Lions References 30em Cfl Season, 2007 Category:Canadian Football League seasons