85th Grey Cup

The 85th Grey Cup (Canadian Football League championship) was held in 1997 in Edmonton before 60,431 fans. The heavily favoured Toronto Argonauts won the game over the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a score of 47-23.

Game summary

Toronto Argonauts (47) - TDs, Doug Flutie, Adrion Smith, Robert Drummond, Mike "Pinball" Clemons, Derrell Mitchell; FGs, Mike Vanderjagt (4); cons., Vanderjagt (5).

Saskatchewan Roughriders (23) - TDs, Reggie Slack, Mike Saunders, Shawn Daniels; FGs, Paul McCallum; cons., McCallum (2).

First Quarter
SSK—FG McCallum 28-yard field goal
TOR—TD Mitchell 34-yard pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert)
Second Quarter
TOR—TD Drummond 6-yard pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert)
SSK—TD Daniels 3-yard run
TOR—FG Vanderjagt
TOR—FG Vanderjagt 12-yard field goal
Third Quarter
TOR—TD Smith 95-yard run off the kickoff (Vanderjagt convert)
TOR—TD Flutie 10-yard run (Vanderjagt convert)
TOR—TD Clemons pass from Flutie (Vanderjagt convert)
Fourth Quarter
SSK—TD Saunders 51-yard pass from Slack (McCallum convert)
TOR—FG Vanderjagt
TOR—FG Vanderjagt
SSK—TD Slack 1-yard run (McCallum convert)

The game started well for Saskatchewan, with Shannon Baker returning the opening kick-off 74 yards deep into Toronto territory. Five plays later, the Roughriders scored a 28-yard field goal from Paul McCallum.

After the two teams exchanged interceptions, the Argonauts engineered a 32-yard drive culminating in a touchdown strike from quarterback Doug Flutie to Derrell Mitchell to put Toronto in the lead, 7-3. Doug Flutie then marched the Argos down the field again and hit Robert Drummond with a 6-yard touchdown pass to stretch the margin to 14-3.

Saskatchewan edged closer with 3-yard touchdown plunge from Shawn Daniels, but the convert failed, leaving the score 14-9. Then Toronto kicker Mike Vanderjagt kicked two field goals, one on the final play of the first half, to extend the lead to 20-9 going into the locker room.

The turning point in the game came on the first play of the second half. Toronto kick returner Adrion Smith caught the ball on his own 15-yard line, started toward the right sideline for a record 95 return for a touchdown. Shortly after an interception, Flutie engineered a 73-yard drive, and called his own number from 10 yards out to score again. Still in the third quarter Flutie spotted Mike "Pinball" Clemons open in the end zone for the third touchdown in the quarter. The score after three quarters was 41-9.

Saskatchewan scored in the fourth quarter when Mike Saunders hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass from scrambling quarterback Reggie Slack. Vanderjagt added two more field goals for Toronto and Slack plunged in from 1 yard out to round out the scoring.

Trivia

Doug Flutie, who threw for 350 yards, claimed Most Valuable Player honours along with a brand new Dodge Dakota, while Paul Masotti was named Most Valuable Canadian. While on air live, and upon being named Grey Cup MVP, Flutie handed the keys to the Dakota over to Masotti. When his generosity was acknowledged by the announcer, Flutie remarked "I have one (a MVP truck) from last year." (When he was also MVP.)
The game was originally slated to be held at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, but the Baltimore Stallions' relocation to Montreal, Quebec a year earlier along with the ownership situation struggle in Montreal made it impossible to hold the game in that city. The league then awarded the game to Edmonton at the 1996 Grey Cup weekend. If the Stallions would have been playing in 1997, it would have marked the first Grey Cup game to be held outside of Canada.

1997 CFL Playoffs

West Division

Semi-final (November 2 @ Calgary, Alberta) Saskatchewan Roughriders 33-30 Calgary Stampeders
Final (November 9 @ Edmonton, Alberta) Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-30 Edmonton Eskimos

East Division

Semi-final (November 2 @ Montreal, Quebec) Montreal Alouettes 45-35 BC Lions*
Final (November 9 @ Toronto, Ontario) Toronto Argonauts 37-30 Montreal Alouettes

* Cross over from West Division

External links

"Grey Cup: 1997". Canadian Football League.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Founded in 1910 Based in Regina, Saskatchewan

Franchise	Franchise Records Players Seasons Head coaches

Stadiums	Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field Mosaic Stadium (2017)

Culture	Labour Day Classic Banjo Bowl Gainer the Gopher

Important figures	Ron Atchison Roger Aldag Bill Baker Al Benecick "Gluey" Hugh Campbell Ken Charlton Bill Clarke Ray Elgaard Edwin "Eddie" "Dynamite" James Bobby Jurasin Ron Lancaster Ed McQuarters George Reed Dave Ridgway Martin Ruby N. J. "Piffles" Taylor Ted Urness

Retired numbers	23 Ron Lancaster 34 George Reed 36 Dave Ridgway 40 Mel Becket 44 Roger Aldag 55 Mario DeMarco 56 Ray Syrnyk 73 Gordon Sturtridge

Key personnel	Owners: "Community" owned General Manager: Chris Jones Head Coach: Chris Jones

Grey Cup championships (4)	1966 1989 2007 2013

West Division championships (19)	1923 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1934 1951 1966 1967 1969 1972 1976 1989 1997 2007 2009 2010 2013

Current league affiliations	League: Canadian Football League Division: West

Toronto Argonauts

Founded in 1873 Based in Toronto, Ontario

Franchise	Franchise Records Players Seasons Head coaches First-round draft picks

Stadiums	BMO Field Rogers Centre Exhibition Stadium Varsity Stadium Rosedale Field

Culture and lore	Argonotes Labour Day Classic

Important figures	Doug Flutie Joe Theismann Terry Greer Condredge Holloway Dan Ferrone Dick Shatto Don Moen Paul Masotti Pinball Clemons Damon Allen

Retired numbers	22 31 55 60

Key personnel	Owners: Kilmer Sports and Bell Canada consortium General Manager: Jim Barker Head Coach: Scott Milanovich

Grey Cup Championships (16)	1914 1921 1933 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1950 1952 1983 1991 1996 1997 2004 2012

Eastern Division/IRFU Championships (23)	1911 1912 1914 1920 1921 1922 1933 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1950 1952 1971 1982 1983 1987 1991 1996 1997 2004 2012

Current league affiliations	League: Canadian Football League Division: East

Toronto Argonauts 85th Grey Cup champions

1 Kelly Wiltshire
2 Doug Flutie
7 Johnnie Harris
9 Marcello Simmons
10 Antonious Bonner
11 Andre Ware
12 Adrion Smith
13 Mike Vanderjagt
19 Donald Smith
21 George Nimako
28 Duane Dmytryshyn
29 Robert Drummond
31 Pinball Clemons
36 Lester Smith
37 Ken Benson
38 Reggie Givens
50 Mike O'Shea
51 Noah Cantor
54 Jeremy O'Day
56 Chad Folk
57 Dan Payne
58 Chris Gioskas
59 Pierre Vercheval
63 Mike Kiselak
73 Andrew Stewart
80 Norm Casola
81 Andre Kirwan
87 Derrell Mitchell
88 Paul Masotti
89 Denis Montana
91 Demetrious Maxie
92 Rob Waldrop
94 Oscar Giles

Head coach: Don Matthews

Assistant coaches: Bill Bradley

Grey Cup

Editions	1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Venues	Autostade BC Place BMO Field Commonwealth Stadium Civic Stadium / Ivor Wynne Stadium Empire Stadium Exhibition Stadium Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds Investors Group Field McMahon Stadium Molson Stadium Olympic Stadium Richardson Memorial Stadium Rogers Centre/Skydome Rosedale Field Taylor Field TD Place Stadium / Frank Clair Stadium / Lansdowne Park Varsity Stadium Winnipeg Stadium / Canad Inns Stadium

Statistics	Champions Most Valuable Players Most Valuable Canadians Winning head coaches Broadcasters Halftime performers

1997 CFL season by team

Western	BC Calgary Edmonton Saskatchewan

Eastern	Hamilton Montreal Toronto Winnipeg

See also	1997 CFL Draft 85th Grey Cup Dispersal Draft

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