1997 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 1997 Edmonton Eskimos, coached by Ron Lancaster, finished in first place in the West Division with a 12–6 record.^[1] They were upset in the West Final by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	3 (via Ottawa)	Chad Folk	OL	Utah
1	8	Mark Farraway	DL	St. Francis Xavier
2	16	Patrice Denis	LB	Western Ontario
4	32	David Heasman	OL	Northern Arizona
5	40	O.J. Santiago	TE	Kent State
6	47	Chris Hardy	QB	Manitoba

Ottawa Roughriders Dispersal Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Pos
1	5 (via Winnipeg)	André Bolduc	SB
1	8	Robert Gordon	WR
2	16	Tommy Henry	DB
3	24	Sean Reade	RB

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
A	June 8	@. British Columbia Lions	32–15	L	10284	0–1
B	June 19	vs Saskatchewan Roughriders	18–17	W	32291	1–1

Regular season

Season standings

East Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA
Toronto Argonauts	18	15	3	0	30	660	327
Montreal Alouettes	18	13	5	0	26	509	532
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	18	4	14	0	8	443	548
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	18	2	16	0	4	362	549

West Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA
Edmonton Eskimos	18	12	6	0	24	479	400
Calgary Stampeders	18	10	8	0	20	533	442
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	8	10	0	16	413	479
BC Lions	18	8	10	0	16	429	536

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record	Stk
1	June 25	@ Calgary Stampeders	23–22	W	24868	1–0	W1
2	July 4	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	24–18	W	25751	2–0	W2
3	July 10	vs. British Columbia Lions	41–31	L	26010	2–1	L1
4	July 17	vs. Montreal Alouettes	32–0	W	27811	3–1	W1
5	July 24	@ Montreal Alouettes	34–24	W	10225	4–1	W2
6	July 31	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	37–34	W	30917	5–1	W3
7	August 7	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	45–11	W	29293	6–1	W4
8	August 14	@ Toronto Argonauts	38–14	L	18031	6–2	L1
9	August 21	vs. Hamilton Tiger Cats	28–24	W	26960	7–2	W1
10	September 1	@ Calgary Stampeders	27–14	L	37611	7–3	L1
11	September 5	vs. Calgary Stampeders	24–20	W	43913	8–3	W1
12	September 13	@ British Columbia	27–1	L	25088	8–4	L1
13	September 20	vs. Toronto Argonauts	25–24	L	38619	8–5	L2
14	September 28	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	29–15	L	29361	8–6	L3
15	October 5	vs. Calgary Stampeders	42–32 (OT)	W	31572	9–6	W1
16	October 12	@ Winnipeg Blue Bombers	20–2	W	18524	10–6	W2
17	October 19	vs. British Columbia Lions	41–7	W	31958	11–6	W3
18	October 25	@ Hamilton Tiger Catse	30–19	W	16110	12–6	W4

1997 CFL All-Stars

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos

Defence

• LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
• CB – Kavis Reed, Edmonton Eskimos
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos

Western All-Star Selections

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos
• OG – Leo Groenewegen, Edmonton Eskimos
• OT – Thomas Rayam, Edmonton Eskimos

Defence

• DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos
• DE – Malvin Hunter, Edmonton Eskimos
• LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
• CB – Kavis Reed, Edmonton Eskimos
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos
• DS – Trent Brown, Edmonton Eskimos

Special teams

• ST – Gizmo Williams, Edmonton Eskimos

Playoffs

West Final

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Saskatchewan Roughriders	14	10	0	7	31
Edmonton Eskimos	7	8	1	14	30

References

1. "Edmonton Eskimos 1997 Season on CFLdb Statistics". stats.cfldb.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-01.