1960 CFL season

The 1960 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the seventh season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the third Canadian Football League season.

CFL News in 1960

The IRFU changed its name to become the Eastern Football Conference.

The CFL allowed unlimited blocking on interception returns.

The Calgary Stampeders moved into McMahon Stadium on Monday, August 15, after it took only 103 days to be built.

On September 14, four of the six directors of the Montreal Alouettes abruptly resigned their positions. The resignations of Lucien Beauregard, Morgan N. Johnston, David C. McConnell and W. Heard Wert left only owner-president Ted Workman and general manager-coach Perry Moss on the board.

Rosters were reduced from 40 players to 34 on September 15.

Ottawa's Ron Stewart rushed for 287 yards on 16 carries in a game in Montreal against the Alouettes on Monday, October 10. He rushed for four touchdowns, one in each quarter, on runs of 39, 51, 51 and 37 yards. He broke the single-game record of 217 yards held previously by Hamilton's Gerry McDougall.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers honored their 11-year veteran guard with "Buddy Tinsley Night" at half-time during their Thursday, October 13, 1960, game versus the BC Lions. The Winnipeg crowd of 16,773 was delighted when Tinsley lined up at fullback and took a hand-off from quarterback Kenny Ploen over from the BC one-yard line for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

At league meetings during Grey Cup week, Western teams dropped their insistence on sharing in the lucrative television rights payments received by the Big Four (Eastern) teams as a condition of accepting an interlocking schedule. It was agreed to begin a partially interlocking schedule in 1961, with travel costs to be offset by an across-the-board surcharge of 25 cents on the price of every ticket sold (each team, every seat, every game).

1960 Preseason

The CFL played an unbalanced schedule of Exhibition games.

Four teams (Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Hamilton) played their annual split-squad scrimmages at the conclusion of their preliminary training camps.

25 players received skin burns during an Edmonton–Calgary game played at Mewata Stadium in Calgary on July 20. Two Eskimos, Roger Nelson and Jim Shipka, were treated in a Calgary hospital. Two Stampeders, Doug Brown and Ernest Warlick, filed damage claims with the City of Calgary. The lime used for field markings initially was suspected as being the cause, although laboratory tests later determined it was fully hydrated and should not have been the culprit. Fertilizer also was suggested as a possible cause of the skin burns.

On July 28, the Saskatchewan Roughriders played the London Lords of the Senior Ontario Rugby Football Union in London, Ontario, and beat their hosts 38–0.

On July 29, the BC Lions played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Part of the local appeal was the presence on three former University of Iowa stars, Kenny Ploen and Ray Jauch of the Blue Bombers, and Willie Fleming of the BC Lions.

After playing (and losing to) the NFL Chicago Cardinals in 1959, the Toronto Argonauts hosted the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers at CNE Stadium on August 3 and lost 43–16. Both teams used 12 players, with a handful of NFL rules (blocking, punt returns) blended into the Canadian game.

Toronto also played host to an NFL exhibition game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, at Varsity Stadium on Monday, August 15. Top ticket price was $10, which was the most ever charged for a non-Grey Cup game in Toronto. George Halas of the Bears, who also served as chairman of the NFL's expansion committee, admitted that in 1961 the NFL would have 14 teams, an awkward number, and that 16 teams would be more convenient for scheduling. It was suggested that this game was a trial balloon for a possible expansion team in Toronto. Chicago defeated the Giants by a 16–7 score, but the paid attendance was only 5,401, handing the promoters a $30,000 loss and effectively ending any chance of an NFL team north of the border.

1960 Regular Season

Coaching Changes

Calgary

• Fri 19 August – Otis Douglas resigns as head coach of the Calgary Stampeders, after the club started the season with a tie and two losses. General Manager Jim Finks acts as co-ordinator of coaches for Calgary's August 22 game versus the BC Lions (a loss).
• Tue 23 August – Steve Owen is appointed head coach for the remainder of the 1960 season.

General Manager Changes

Edmonton

• Sat 10 September – Keith Rolfe resigns as General Manager of the Edmonton Eskimos, to take a position with an oil company in Calgary. Joe Ryan, formerly with the Toronto Argonauts, is named as his successor.

Regular season standings

BC Lions vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers, August 11

Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points

• Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
• Winnipeg and Toronto have first round byes.

Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1960

Conference Semi-Finals

• Edmonton won the total-point series by 70–28. The Eskimos will play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Western Finals.

• The Rough Riders will play the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Finals.

Conference Finals

• Edmonton wins the best of three series 2–1. The Eskimos will advance to the Grey Cup Championship game.

• Ottawa won 2 game total-point series by 54–41. The Rough Riders will advance to the Grey Cup Championship game.

Playoff bracket

^[1]

Grey Cup Championship

CFL Leaders

• CFL Passing Leaders
• CFL Rushing Leaders
• CFL Receiving Leaders ^[2]

1960 Eastern All-Stars

1960 Western All-Stars

1960 CFL Awards

• CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Jackie Parker (QB), Edmonton Eskimos
• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Ron Stewart (RB), Ottawa Rough Riders
• CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Herb Gray (DE), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (Eastern MVP) – Ron Stewart (RB), Ottawa Rough Riders
• Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (WIFU MVP) – Jackie Parker (QB), Edmonton Eskimos
• Gruen Trophy (Eastern Rookie of the Year) – Bill Mitchell (G/LB), Toronto Argonauts
• DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy (WIFU Outstanding Lineman) – Frank Rigney (OT), Winnipeg Blue Bombers

1960 Miss Grey Cup

• Miss Edmonton Eskimos Mary-Jo Powell was named Miss Grey Cup 1960

References