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The 1994 CFL season is considered to be the 41st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 37th Canadian Football League season.
| 1994 CFL season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | July 6 – November 6, 1994 |
| East champions | Baltimore CFLers |
| West champions | BC Lions |
| 82nd Grey Cup | |
| Date | November 27, 1994 |
| Venue | BC Place Stadium, Vancouver |
| Champions | BC Lions |
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Expansion
The CFL admitted three more United States-based teams, to add to the Sacramento Gold Miners, who were introduced in 1993.
The Las Vegas Posse, the Shreveport Pirates and the Baltimore CFLers made the league 12 teams in total, six in each division. The new teams started play in 1994, with Las Vegas joining the Sacramento Gold Miners in the West Division, and Baltimore and Shreveport joining the East Division.
The Baltimore team was to be called the Baltimore Colts, but the Colts name was revoked due to a successful trademark infringement lawsuit filed by the Indianapolis Colts, and they played the entire season as the "Baltimore CFLers".
Regular season structure
Due to the expansion, this was the first season since 1980 when CFL teams did not travel to every other stadium in the League during the season.
CFL teams played each team in their own division twice, two teams in the other division twice, and the four remaining teams in the other division only once. The two inter-Divisional opponents to be played twice were determined by the previous season's regular season standing. Teams who had finished first and third in 1993 played the first and third teams from the other division twice – and the same applied to the teams who had finished second and fourth in each division, and the effective "fifth" and "sixth" place teams. Since Sacramento finished fifth in 1993, and since the other three U.S. expansion teams were deemed "fifth" and "sixth" place for the purposes of the schedule, this format ensured that the U.S. teams all played one another twice for the 1994 season.
The divisions were rearranged again in the 1995 CFL season, when the league expanded to 13 teams for one season.
Ownership changes
In February, Bruce Firestone purchased the Ottawa Rough Riders from the Glieberman family, clearing the way for the Gliebermans to assume the Shreveport Pirates.
In May, the JLL Broadcast Group purchased the Toronto Argonauts after John Candy died (Candy had put his stake in the team up for sale hours before he died) and Bruce McNall was arrested on fraud charges.
Uniform changes
The Ottawa Rough Riders unveiled a new logo based on a head profile of a mustached lumberjack. Their colours were also updated with light navy replacing black and the addition of metallic gold, red was kept.
New logos and uniforms also were designed for the expansion teams in Baltimore, Las Vegas and Shreveport. The Shreveport Pirates' team colours were purple, silver, orange and black with a side profile of a pirate's head inside a delta. The Las Vegas Posse chose a simpler logo and colour choice. The logo was a sheriff's tin star with "LV" imposed on it. Their colours were black and desert sand. Baltimore adopted a color scheme that added silver to the Colts' traditional colors of blue and white, as well as a stylized horse's head logo. Despite the team being unable to use the "Colts" name, it continued using the logo and colours for the entire season as well as the following season, by which time owner Jim Speros had settled on "Stallions" as his team's official nickname.
Game records set
In a July 14, 1994, matchup of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos, Matt Dunigan passed for a remarkable 713 yards, setting a CFL record that still stands.[1]
Allen Pitts set the record for receiving yards in one season with 2,036 yards while his teammate Doug Flutie set the record for passing touchdowns with 48.
The Grey Cup
BC Place Stadium played host to the Grey Cup game on Sunday, November 27, making Vancouver the host city for the twelfth time-more than any other Western Canadian city. In the Grey Cup game, the hometown BC Lions were against the Baltimore CFLers, becoming the first ever Grey Cup game between a Canada-based team and a US-based team. The Lions ended up defeating the Baltimore team by a score of 26–23, on Lui Passaglia's game-winning field goal on the last play of the game.
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| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 698 | 355 | 8–2 | W3 | Details |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 518 | 401 | 7–3 | W2 | Details |
| BC Lions | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 604 | 456 | 5–4–1 | L1 | Details |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 512 | 454 | 4–6 | W4 | Details |
| Sacramento Gold Miners | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 436 | 436 | 3–6–1 | W1 | Details |
| Las Vegas Posse | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 447 | 622 | 2–8 | L6 | Details |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 651 | 572 | 9–1 | W1 | Details |
| Baltimore CFLers | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 561 | 431 | 8-2 | L1 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 504 | 578 | 5–5 | L2 | Details |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 480 | 647 | 3–7 | L7 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 435 | 562 | 3–7 | L3 | Details |
| Shreveport Pirates | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 330 | 661 | 2–8 | W2 | Details |
- Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
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The BC Lions are the 1994 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Baltimore CFLers 26–23, in front of their home crowd at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. It was the first football championship game between Canadian and American teams. The CFLers' Karl Anthony (DB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Lions' Lui Passaglia (K/P) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.
Playoff bracket
| November 12 & 13: Division Semifinals | November 20: Division Finals | November 27: 82nd Grey Cup @ BC Place Stadium – Vancouver, BC | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Toronto Argonauts | 15 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Baltimore CFLers | 34 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Baltimore CFLers | 14 | ||||||||||||
| East | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 12 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 16 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 26 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Baltimore CFLers | 23 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | BC Lions | 26 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | BC Lions | 24 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | BC Lions | 37 | ||||||||||||
| West | ||||||||||||||
| W1 | Calgary Stampeders | 36 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Calgary Stampeders | 36 | ||||||||||||
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Offence
- QB – Doug Flutie, Calgary Stampeders
- FB – Sean Millington, BC Lions
- RB – Mike Pringle, Baltimore CFLers
- SB – Allen Pitts, Calgary Stampeders
- SB – Gerald Wilcox, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – Paul Masotti, Toronto Argonauts
- WR – Rod Harris, Sacramento Gold Miners
- C – Mike Anderson, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OG – Pierre Vercheval, Toronto Argonauts
- OG – Rocco Romano, Calgary Stampeders
- OT – Shar Pourdanesh, Baltimore CFLers
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Defence
- DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos
- DT – Rodney Harding, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – Will Johnson, Calgary Stampeders
- DE – Tim Cofield, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- LB – Ron Goetz, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
- LB – Calvin Tiggle, Toronto Argonauts
- CB – Less Browne, BC Lions
- CB – Irvin Smith, Baltimore CFLers
- DB – Charles Gordon, BC Lions
- DB – Robert Holland, Edmonton Eskimos
- DS – Greg Knox, Calgary Stampeders
Special teams
- P – Josh Miller, Baltimore CFLers
- K – Mark McLoughlin, Calgary Stampeders
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
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Offence
- QB – Doug Flutie, Calgary Stampeders
- FB – Sean Millington, BC Lions
- RB – Mike Saunders, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- SB – Allen Pitts, Calgary Stampeders
- SB – Darren Flutie, BC Lions
- WR – Ray Alexander, BC Lions
- WR – Rod Harris, Sacramento Gold Miners
- C – Mike Anderson, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OG – Rob Smith, BC Lions
- OG – Rocco Romano, Calgary Stampeders
- OT – Bruce Covernton, Calgary Stampeders
- OT – Blake Dermott, Edmonton Eskimos
Defence
- DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos
- DT – Stu Laird, Calgary Stampeders
- DE – Will Johnson, Calgary Stampeders
- DE – Bobby Jurasin, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- LB – Ron Goetz, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
- LB – Marvin Pope, Calgary Stampeders
- CB – Less Browne, BC Lions
- CB – Albert Brown, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- DB – Charles Gordon, BC Lions
- DB – Robert Holland, Edmonton Eskimos
- DS – Greg Knox, Calgary Stampeders
Special teams
- P – Tony Martino, Calgary Stampeders
- K – Mark McLoughlin, Calgary Stampeders
- ST – Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
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Offence
- QB – Matt Dunigan, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- FB – Peter Tuipulotu, Baltimore CFLers
- RB – Mike Pringle, Baltimore CFLers
- SB – Chris Armstrong, Baltimore CFLers
- SB – Gerald Wilcox, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – Paul Masotti, Toronto Argonauts
- WR – Earl Winfield, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- C – Nick Subis, Baltimore CFLers
- OG – Pierre Vercheval, Toronto Argonauts
- OG – David Black, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- OT – Shar Pourdanesh, Baltimore CFLers
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Defence
- DT – Ben Williams, Shreveport Pirates
- DT – Rodney Harding, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – John Kropke, Ottawa Rough Riders
- DE – Tim Cofield, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- LB – Daved Benefield, Ottawa Rough Riders
- LB – Mike O'Shea, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- LB – Calvin Tiggle, Toronto Argonauts
- CB – Donald Smith, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – Irvin Smith, Baltimore CFLers
- DB – Joe Fuller, Shreveport Pirates
- DB – Bobby Evans, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- DS – Michael Brooks, Baltimore CFLers
Special teams
- P – Josh Miller, Baltimore CFLers
- K – Troy Westwood, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- ST – Pinball Clemons, Toronto Argonauts
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- CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Doug Flutie (QB), Calgary Stampeders
- CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Gerald Wilcox (SB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Willie Pless (LB), Edmonton Eskimos
- CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Shar Pourdanesh (OT), Baltimore CFLers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Matt Goodwin (DB), Baltimore CFLers
- CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – O. J. Brigance (LB), Baltimore CFLers
- CFL's Coach of the Year – Don Matthews, Baltimore CFLers
- Commissioner's Award - Norm Fieldgate, BC Lions
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