Our third part of the Top Ten Grey Cups. This looks at the two best Grey Cup games of the past forty years. Enjoy.
#2. 1996: Toronto Argonauts – 43, Edmonton Eskimos –
37
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot
of lists where the top Grey Cups have been mentioned, but for some reason, the
1996 edition is never mentioned and I can’t understand why. I’m assuming
because fans and media of the other eight cities in the CFL, hate the Argos and
don’t want to acknowledge that Toronto could win a great game. However, this
game is just that: great. It had big plays, a close finish, a controversial
play late in the game, and biggest of all, it was played in a snow storm.
The game was played in Ivor
Wynne Stadium in Hamilton and the snow started coming down heavy about three
hours before kickoff. Shovelling crews were kept busy all day and you see the never could see the green turf, except around the yard lines and side lines which the crews
were constantly clearing.
The underdog Eskimos scored
first when the Argos’ quarterback, Doug Flutie, scrambled into his own endzone
after a high snap sailed over his head, and fell on the ball to concede the
two-point safety. Edmonton increased the lead to 9-0 on a 64-yard pass from
Edmonton QB Danny McManus to receiver “Downtown” Eddie Brown. The first quarter
ended with the heavily favoured Argos scoreless.
That didn’t last long as Toronto
put up 27 points in the second quarter. After a Mike Vanderjagt 37-yard field
goal, Edmonton couldn’t move the ball and had to punt. Argo returner, Jimmy
“The Jet” Cunningham, took the ball and ran 80 yards into the endzone and slid
in the snow once he got there. After another Vanderjagt field goals, the teams
traded touchdowns, two each, with Edmonton’s coming on two big plays: a 75-yard
pass from McManus to Jim Sandusky and a 91-yard kick return by Henry “Gizmo”
Williams. (Players don’t seem to have interesting nicknames anymore. The Argos
also had Mike “Pinball” Clemons in this game.) The Argos two scores came on a
one-yard run by Robert Drummond and a ten-yard scramble by Flutie. Toronto led
at the half, 27-23.
The Argos scored the only points
of the third, another Vanderjagt field goal, who also added another early in
the fourth to give Toronto a ten point lead at 33-23. An Edmonton touchdown
closed the gap to three, which leads us to the controversial play of the game.
On a third-down gamble, Flutie
tried to sneak for the first down, but fumbled the ball after moving forward a
couple of yards. Edmonton recovered the football, but the play had been blown
dead by the referees, determining that Flutie’s forward progress had been
stopped before the fumble. Replays showed this was questionable but the ball
remained in Toronto’s possession. Three plays later, Vanderjagt kicked his
fifth field goal of the game and Toronto’s lead was six.
The deciding play occurred on
Edmonton’s first play from scrimmage after the field goal. McManus threw a pass
to Edmonton receiver, Darren Flutie, who slipped on the snow and fell to the
ground. The ball bounced off his chest and into the arms of Argo defender,
Adrian Smith, who ran 49 yards into the endzone to give Toronto a 43-30 lead.
Edmonton scored in the final seconds to make the final score 43-37.
While the Eskimos and their fans
complained about the fumble that wasn’t called, it only led to three points.
Take those three points away and the Argos still win, 40-37. Saying the game
would have turned out any differently is merely hearsay.
#1. 1989:
Saskatchewan Roughriders – 43, Hamilton Tiger-Cats – 40
In what is the most exciting
Grey Cup game ever, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were making their first
appearance in the championship game since 1976. The Tiger Cats were in the game
for the fifth time in the decade, but had only won one of the previous four
attempts (1986).
Hamilton got off to a quick
start with two field goals from kicker, Paul Osbaldiston. After Rider punter,
Terry Baker, put one into the endzone for a single point, Hamilton scored the
first major of the game when QB Mike Kerrigan hit receiver Tony Champion and
the first quarter ended with Hamilton on top 13-1.
The second quarter was back and
forth with five touchdowns being scored. The first was by Saskatchewan when QB
Kent Austin hit tight end Ray Elgaard to make the score 13-8. Hamilton restored
their twelve-point lead when Kerrigan hit Derrick McAdoo for a major but the
Riders came back again when Austin’s pass was taken into the endzone by Jeff
Fairholm. McAdoo caught another Kerrigan pass and Donald Narcisse caught
Austin’s third touchdown pass of the day bringing the half to a close with
Hamilton in front of the Green Riders, 27-22.
After the two teams traded field
goals in the third quarter, Saskatchewan started to take control of the game.
The Tiger-Cats conceded a safety when they were forced to punt deep in their
own end to make the score 27-24. The Riders then took the lead, 31-27 when Tim
McCray scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge.
The fourth quarter was a battle
of field goals as first Saskatchewan kicker Dave Ridgway extended the Rider
lead to seven with a 25-yard boot. Osbaldiston answered that with a 47-yard
kick of his own, but Ridgway restored the seven point lead with 20-yarder.
Saskatchewan on top 40-33.
Hamilton then went on a
time-consuming, championship-caliber drive in an effort to tie the score. Two
controversial missed defensive pass-interference calls had Hamilton head coach,
Al Bruno, throwing fits on the sideline as he screamed at the officials and
almost stormed onto the field to confront them. Finally, on the third pass
interference play of the drive, the flag was thrown and Hamilton inched
closer to the tying score.
The Ti-Cats moved the ball down
to the Saskatchewan eight yard line, but it was third down. The stage was set
for the greatest catch in football history—not just Grey Cup history, not just
CFL history, but football history. Kerrigan took the snap and dropped back to
the 12 yard line. He threw the ball up in the air towards Champion. The
Hamilton receiver, later revealed to playing with cracked ribs, was five yards
into the endzone when he realized the ball was thrown behind him. He turned his
body to face the ball, jumped up and reached for the ball, squeezed it and fell
backwards, landing hard on his back against the artificial turf. The pain must
have been unbearable, but Champion hung on to the ball for the touchdown and
after the convert, the game was tied at 40.
But Champion’s catch couldn’t
help the Hamilton defense as Saskatchewan marched the ball back down the field
to the Tiger-Cats’ 26 yard line. Ridgway booted the ball through the uprights
from 35 yards out and the Roughriders captured their first Grey Cup since 1966,
winning 43-40.
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