Friday, August 15, 2025

1968 AFL “Wideboys” Player’s Aids For Strat-O-Matic Pro Football - Original Cards

 


SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS


Overview - 1968 AFL:  The 1968 AFL’s four best special teams cards belong to Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, and the Jets.  Kansas City’s kickers in particular are the best in professional football; Oakland gets great work from veteran George Blanda and rookie return man George Atkinson; San Diego effectively uses Speedy Duncan and new kicker Dennis Partee; and the Jets get consistent and clutch work from Jim Turner. The Player’s Cards add 26 new players to the old cards, an increase of almost 25 percent. 

Fun Fact:  The 1968 AFL missed only four extra points for the whole year, 349 makes to 353 attempts.  The Chiefs missed one, the Chargers missed three, and eight teams were perfect.  The 1968 Philadelphia Eagles missed four extra points in 21 attempts.  The 1968 AFL’s performance is not even the record- the 8 teams of the 1965 AFL made every extra point, 267 for 267.




Boston Patriots: 

Special teams:
Pats legend Gino Cappelletti became more of a short range kicker, falling off dramatically past 40 yards, but he hits at better than 66 pct in close and making all his extra points.  Opponent kick return coverage is a little below average but no LG.  Punt coverage is above average but with a LG, backing punter Terry Swanson, a short range punter with a block.  Kick and punt returns are pretty average, still, Cappelletti’s consistency in close makes the Patriots’ card liveable.  

Personnel:
Jim Colclough and Bob Scarpitto are roster filling receivers with a total of 10 catches between them.



Buffalo Bills: 

Special teams:  
Kicker Bruce Alford drops to 50% at 39 yards, but he does make all his extra points. Kickoff coverage is average, but the punt coverage is well below average, with a LG.  Paul Maguire is a great punter with a block.  Top returners Hagood Clarke (PR #1) and Max Anderson (KR #1) each have TDs on number 2.

Personnel:
Monte Ledbetter is a four catch extra wide receiver, and Keith Lincoln had 27 total touches for the Bills in his last AFL season, but was uncarded in the original set because he never played after a trade to San Diego.  But Kay Stephenson had three starts (0-3) and 79 pass attempts and was uncarded at QB in the original set. 



Cincinnati Bengals:

Special teams:  
The Bengals opened their franchise history using Dale Livingston as a below average kicker and punter, albeit with no blocks.  Their kick coverage is below average and they give up a LG.  They do have the AFL’s second best punt coverage. Essex Johnson is a pretty good punt returner but the kick returners are pretty average.  

Personnel:

Bill Peterson is added in as extra 0 catch pure TE with a 1 block who is carded because starting TE Bob Trumpy is also a WR ( Flanker).  This provides more receiving depth just in case for gamers who replay seasons with injuries. 


The Game Co. originally carded four runners but not FB Tommie Smiley, who had 63 carries and 19 catches. Part of the reason they overlooked him may be Smiley averaged only 2.3 yards a run and 4.5 yards per catch. Still, that’s 82 touches. Smiley actually caught the first pass in Bengal history. 



One interesting new card belongs to a man who played a big part in Cincinnati’s history – Sam Wyche.  He had played in the Continental League and actually had an MBA from South Carolina when he was picked up by Paul Brown for the expansion ’68 Bengals.  Wyche served as a graduate assistant for Lou Holtz, and he was already thinking like a coach on the field.  His overall career as a player was somewhat undistinguished, but he played pretty well in three 1968 midseason games.  He’ll hold onto the ball too long on occasion, but he can give you a reasonable start or two. 



Sam Wyche


Denver Broncos:

Special teams:  
Ah, Floyd Little!  Little is a good punt returner and kick returner, posting a TD in the 2 spot, even if the #2 guys are just average.  Bill Van Heusen takes over the punting and he can punt for distance, but he has a block in the 12.  But this year the Broncos punt coverage is very good.  The kickoff coverage is among Pro Football’s worst.  Bobby Howfield is a poor kicker.  

Personnel:

Denver gets an extra TE (Dave Washington), WR (Jimmy Jones), a decent 66 carry runner in Fran Lynch, and two QBs (John McCormick and Jim LeClair) to go with the two QBs they already had.  Of these cards LeClair can make a few throws and more than a few mistakes. 


Houston Oilers:

Special teams:  
Kicker Wayne Walker loses his range after 30 yards, but he hits all his extra points, and Jim Norton is a good punter for average, minus the block on twelve.  No Oiler return man really stands out.  The Oilers are decent PR defenders in the 1968 AFL but kick coverage is below average.      

Personnel:
Lionel Taylor ended his career in Houston with 6 catches, the last of his 597 grabs in the AFL. He led the league in catches 5 times. He and WR Ode Burrell are roster fillers, but QB Bob Davis originally went uncarded with 3 starts (1-2) and 86 pass attempts. 



New York Jets:

Special teams:
1968 saw the return of the Jets’ Jim Turner as an all star kicker; his 34 FGs (and 100% extra points) made bested Kansas City’s Jan Stenerud by 4 made kicks, and Turner scored a record 145 points on kicks alone.  Both records would stand until 1983, squarely within the 16-game era.   He still owns the Jets’ single season scoring record, 16 points ahead of the next best effort – Jim Turner, with 129 points in 1969 (and Jason Myers in 2018).  Turner averaged a whopping 10.4 ppg as a kicker in 1968, including his three critical kicks in Super Bowl III.  He is 2-7 all the way out to the 42 yard line.  This capability does come with a price; the 1968 New York team allowed a team record 3 punt return TDs, and only the 2000 Jets, 2003 Jets and the 1961 Titans allowed a higher average (13.6 yards per return).  Curley Johnson has great yards per punt, albeit with a block, and the Jets have above average kick return coverage.  Punt returns are above average, especially #2 PR Earl Christy; New York kick returns are average.   The combination of the Jets offense and Jim Turner is very useful.

Fun Fact: the 1968 Jets actually led the AFL in total defense; their 280 points allowed were due to a whopping ten “special cause” TDs- three fumble TDs against, including the “Heidi Game” fumble, four interception returns, and the three punt returns against noted above.  This was about a quarter of the total of these types of unusual TDs for the whole league (7 PR, 1 KR, 6 fumbles, 23 interceptions, 2 miscellaneous).  Without these unusual mistakes the Jets would have finished second in points to the Chiefs.  The Jets were tops in yards, second in yards per play, second in turnovers forced, second in passing yards allowed, and tops against the run.  It is a very underrated defense, as the Colts found out in Super Bowl III. 

Personnel:
Curley Johnson was actually, at points in his AFL career, a running back, tight end, kickoff man and the first great punter in the history of the New York Jets. He’s included for the second straight year as a TE/WR, and Bill Rademacher (WR) is included for depth. 



Miami Dolphins:

Special teams:  
Larry Seiple punts for average yardage, with no blocked punt, but the Dolphins have sub-par punt coverage.  The kickoff coverage is very good with no LG.  Jimmy Keyes is a very poor kicker, but he is perfect on extra points.  The Dolphins are plus four on penalties, though.  The kick and punt returns are fairly average, but Jimmy Warren’s KR #2 card has Bob Neff’s 95 yard return in the 2 spot, at the time the longest AFL kickoff return without a score.  

Personnel:
Larry Seiple, who at one point in the Sixties played as the starting TE, is here added as an extra TE, and the Dolphins get Bill Darnall as a WR and WB Kim Hammond, who attempted 26 passes in 3 games. 



Oakland Raiders:

Special teams:  
Only one other ’68 AFL special teams squad challenges Kansas City, and it is the Raiders.  For the second straight year they come up with a great punt returner, in this case rookie DB George Atkinson, who has a TD in the 3 spot, while Oakland still has Rodger Bird as a more than capable PR #2.  George Blanda is 2-7,11,12 out to 40 yards and 2-5,11,12 in the 33-42 range, and is perfect on extra points.  The Raiders have the best punt coverage in the AFL but average kick coverage.  Mike Eischeid punts for yardage with no blocks.  The Raiders have fewer fair catches than the Chiefs so they will likely tally more yards, and with their kickers they are very tough. They are also plus 2 on penalties.


George Atkinson

Personnel:
Larry Todd has 17 touches as a halfback, appearing on this list for the second straight year. Eldridge Dickey gives the Raiders one more receiver. 



Kansas City Chiefs:

Special teams:
The Chiefs have the best special teams in Pro Football.  Jan Stenerud is a weapon, 2-7,11,12 out to the 2 yard line, and 2-4,11,12 out to the 47.   Surprisingly he missed an extra point.  Jerrel Wilson has great punt yards and no blocks.  They have good to excellent returns and allow no long gains.  Both Noland Smith (who led the AFL at 15.0 yards per return) and Goldie Sellers (who was even better as a non-qualifier at 18.4 yards per return) are capable and explosive punt returners and each has a touchdown on the cards; Sellers has two chances.  Smith is also a good KR #1.  This is a card that can win you games, and the Chiefs are already a team that can win games.  Just the kickers alone and coverages are better than any other combination in either league.

Personnel:
Curtis McClinton is added as an extra fullback, with 24 solid carries. 



1968 San Diego Chargers:

Special teams:  
The Chargers replaced 1967 veteran Dick Van Raaphorst with rookie Dennis Partee, who was a pretty good kicker for the year other than his 2-10 extra point range.  He is 2-7 out to 40 yards and very good in close.  Punt and kick coverages are average although they do have a LG on punts.  Partee is average for yards on punts with no blocks.  Speedy Duncan provides the fireworks on punt returns, with a TD in the three spot, but as is the case with many of these teams, the #2 guys are mediocre. Still, the kickers and Duncan make this the third best AFL Special Teams card.




Personnel:
One of the more interesting “what ifs” concerns 1967’s excellent rookie All-AFL fullback Brad Hubbert, who was injured in San Diego’s second 1968 game after only 28 carries. Hubbert was averaging 14 carries and 60 yards a game, and he was providing the ideal inside counterpoint to Dickie Post.  He was replaced by Gene Foster, who was probably a slightly better all-around player, but he was not the thumper between the tackles that Hubbert was.   Later in the season even Foster left the lineup, and San Diego went with what was referred to at the time as the “mini backfield” of Russ Smith and Dickie Post.  San Diego shares a division with both 12-2 teams in Kansas City and Oakland, but it would be interesting to see how the AFL’s best offense would perform with Hubbert in the rotation for the full season.  Hubbert never really bounced back from his 1968 knee injury, he was a backup level player in 1969 and 1970 and out of football soon after that.

The 1968 NFL is coming! I just wanted to get these in the hands of AFL gamers, including myself. 😂 

Fred Bobberts
Initial Date of Publication: 8-15-2025


Monday, August 4, 2025

“Down in the West Texas Town of El Paso” - Cards for the The 1977-78 Sun Bowl for SOM College Football

 




The Sun Bowl in 1977


“Down in the West Texas Town of El Paso” - Cards for the The 1977-78 Sun Bowl for SOM College Football

More College Football 🏈 fun from Big Stew!



Dropbox link for 1977 Stanford: 



Dropbox link for 1977 LSU:



The Sun Bowl was played on December 31, and featured Stanford, who had tied for second in the PAC -8 race, and LSU, who had finished in fourth place in the SEC.  Stanford was led by Guy Benjamin who threw for 2,500 yards and 19 touchdowns, NFL Hall of Famer James Lofton, and all purpose runner Darrin Nelson. Most notably, they were coached by Bill Walsh.  Walsh led Stanford to another bowl win the next season in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, and then was hired as head coach of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, eventually leading them to three Super Bowl titles in ten seasons.  The Tigers, coached by Charlie McClendon, were led by tailback Charles Alexander, who was a two-time All American selection.  McClendon coached two more seasons for LSU, leading them to postseason appearances in the 1978 Liberty Bowl and 1979 Tangerine Bowl, and then retired from coaching. 


During the game, Stanford overcame a 14-10 deficit at halftime to pull out a come-from-behind victory over LSU, 24-14 at the 44th Annual Sun Bowl.  LSU dominated the ground game, rushing for 307 yards, while Stanford proved to be a force in the air, picking up 269 yards passing.  For Stanford it was a case of smoke eaters versus smoke throwers, as the 1977 LSU defense allowed only 42 pct completions and intercepted 15 passes. 


Bill Walsh and Guy Benjamin 

Tiger tailback Charles Alexander, a two-time All-America selection, set the Sun Bowl rushing record racking up 197 yards on 31 carries to earn the C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player Award.  LSU scored on its second possession to set the tone of the game.



Stanford fired back with a touchdown and a field goal for a brief lead before LSU reignited its offense.  With one minute to play before halftime, Alexander plowed into the endzone. Kicker Mike Conway’s successful extra point conversion put the Tigers back on top 14-10.


LSU QB Steve Ensminger

A crucial turnover by LSU in the fourth quarter surrendered any hopes of a victory. The Tigers were driving on the Stanford 15-yard line when quarterback Steve Ensminger threw an interception on a third-and-twelve.



Stanford would later put the game away on a score with a James Lofton reception from Benjamin. Lofton finished with two touchdown catches, while Benjamin fired three scoring strikes in the game.

Stanford linebacker Gordon Ceresino led the Cardinals with a game-high 18 tackles, 14 of which unassisted, and was named Jimmy Rogers, Jr. Most Valuable Lineman.

Lofton and his coach Bill Walsh would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. LSU’s Charles McClendon would later become a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Initial Date of Publication: 8/3/2025
Courtesy Chris Stewart, reprinted with permission
Includes Stanford correction dated 4/17/2024


Link to other SOM CFB Content on this

Monday, July 28, 2025

“The Gateway To The North” Cards for the 1981 Edmonton Eskimos for Retro SOM Pro Football



Warren Moon won five Grey Cups in Six Seasons in the CFL


 “The Gateway To The North”  Cards for the 1981 Edmonton Eskimos for Retro SOM Pro Football







The Grey Cup has actually gone through a few changes in its long history. 


The Grey Cup

The Grey Cup (French: Coupe Grey) is the trophy awarded to the champion of the Canadian Football League (CFL) playoffs. First presented in 1909 by Governor General Earl Grey, it was not a pro football award; initially it represented the amateur football championship. The early years saw dominance by university teams, but by the mid-20th century, professional teams took over. The trophy has a rich history, including being stolen twice and surviving a fire, and is a major cultural symbol in Canada. 

The Grey Cup is thus both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners of the CFL's East and West divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian television's largest annual sporting events.  The Grey Cup was first won by the Toronto Varsity Blues of the University of Toronto. Play was suspended from 1916 to 1918 due to the First World War and in 1919 due to a rules dispute. The game has typically been contested in an east-versus-west format since the 1920s.  The Toronto Argonauts have won the most Grey Cup championships (19), followed by the Edmonton Eskimos (now Elks) (14) and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (12).  The 1981 Grey Cup between Edmonton and Ottawa was the 69th such contest, and it capped the CFL’s (officially) 24th season. 




1981 Edmonton

It was a record setting year for coach Hugh Campbell’s 1981 Edmonton as they finished with their best regular season record (14-1-1) and their fourth straight Grey Cup, beating Ottawa 26-23.  In doing so they became  the first team in CFL history to win the Grey Cup four consecutive times. Down 20-1 at halftime, Warren Moon led the comeback with two rushing touchdowns and Dave Cutler kicked the championship-winning field goal. 



Commonwealth Stadium seated 56,000 people and was the largest open-air stadium in Canada 🇨🇦 in 1981. 

Moon had actually been benched at one point in the second quarter, and reserve QB Tom Wilkinson had come in to restore order and calm the team down. But that’s one of the benefits of a deep roster, a CFL Hall of Famer who can come in off the bench to quarterback in relief. That’s how good Edmonton was back then. 



Tom Wilkinson also won five Grey Cups; not a bad reliever coming off the bench. 


The team also had also had a 22-16 comeback against a feisty B.C. squad, which led 16-9 at halftime on the road in the Western Finals. Both games had controversies.  The first game included a controversial officiating call on BC’s Devon Ford on a kickoff return for a Lions touchdown where he was incorrectly ruled out of bounds. The Lions had to settle for a FG after having had a first and goal at the three following a holding penalty on a run the Lions actually scored on. In the Grey Cup, Ottawa TE and CFL Hall of Famer Tony Gabriel made a spectacular catch late in the game while the Rough Riders were trying to rally in a 20-20 tie game; a highly rare dual pass interference penalty was called on both Gabriel and DB Gary Hays, negating the play. Gabriel, hobbling throughout the playoffs, had his knee badly injured during the effort and never played again.  He had made the game winning catch five years earlier in the 1976 Cup. 

The next year the Eskimos set the current CFL record of five Cups in a row, the only team ever to do this. It’s important to note that this type of domination in the CFL style of play requires both luck and a high degree of skill across both squads and special teams, at every level of play. The 1981 Eskimos delivered on these counts. 

Commonweath Stadium rocked during the 1981 regular season, as defensive backs Ed Jones and Larry Highbaugh had seven interceptions each, while James Parker led the way with 18.5 sacks. Warren passed for 3,959 yards and Brian Kelly had 1,665 receiving yards.

Esk Linebacker Dan Kepley was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player for a third time in his career. 


Three Aces- Smith, Scott, and all-Canada Kelly, all 1,000 yard receivers

The 1981 Edmonton CFL All-Stars included David Boone, Dave Fennell, Jim Germany, Hank Ilesic, Ed Jones, Brian Kelly, Dan Kepley, James Parker, Hector Pothier, Bill Stevenson.  Germany set the then- CFL season total major score record with 19, tying B.C. Lion runner Larry Key. The team boasted three 1,000 yard receivers in Kelly, Tom Scott and Waddell Smith. Coach Campbell won a Grey Cup as a player in 1966, and famously coached the Eskimos, the LA Express of the USFL, and with the Houston Oilers of the NFL. 

Players’s Aids: 

Schedule and QB starter sheet game by game:


QB List 1, the SOM splits for each 1981 CFL quarterback: 


Fred J. Bobberts

Initial Date of Publication: 7-26-2025





Tuesday, July 22, 2025

“On the Prairie” Cards for the 1981 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders for Retro SOM Pro Football



“J.J. Barnagel” the two-headed reason for Saskatchewan’s 1981 resurgence.

On the Prairie” Cards for the 1981 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders for Retro SOM Pro Football



It was a tale of two quarterbacks for the Green Riders, and of two seasons for the Stamps. Prior to 1981, they were coached by legendary player Ron Lancaster, who was a better QB than helmsman.  Saskatchewan had finished 2-14 in both 1979 and 1980. The team switched to former Edmonton assistant Joe Faragalli for 1981, and he got instant results, particularly on offense. 

The Roughriders offense had only scored 284 points while their defense allowed 469 points in the 1980 season. This poor performance on the field was part of a larger trend for the team during the late 1970s and early 1980s, which is often referred to by fans as the "Reign of Error". The team struggled financially during the early to mid-80s, requiring a telethon in 1987 to keep the franchise solvent.  

What Faragalli did was install a two- quarterback system.  The team was quarterbacked by two young throwers with two vastly different skill sets.  QB1 Joe
Barnes was a highly mobile rollout artist, and while he could be an erratic thrower, Barnes averaged 5.8 yards a carry on scrambles and normally he didn’t make very many mistakes.  When Barnes would get dinged up or he would hit the wall, former Denver Broncos signal caller and pocket passer John Hufnagel would come out of the bullpen just throwing ropes.

(There are several 1981 Western Rider games on YouTube and Hufnagel, once he got on a roll, well, he was very difficult to stop. Realistically only a tipped ball or a great play on defense would derail him. His delivery downfield was as smooth as a stick of butter. If you love Canadian-style football 🏈 at all, watching him fling it around Taylor Field while the fans are singing one of the many Saskatchewan team anthems is very entertaining.)



Taylor Field, Regina, Saskatchewan 

It did not hurt that the Roughriders had four solid receivers in Joey Walters, Chris DeFrance, Emanuel Tolbert, and Dwight Edwards, a good all around runner in Lester Brown, as well as a more than capable offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the CFL. LB Vince Goldsmith terrorized enemy QBs with 17 sacks.  Saskatchewan threw for 4,888 yards, behind only Edmonton and Winnipeg, and slot back Joey Walters set a team record of 1,715 yards receiving in 16 games. Walters also tallied 1,692 yards in 1982, and the higher figure still stands as the team record in the current 18 game schedule era. Walters, who also was an all-star in the USFL, was something special, he could break open or fight for the ball equally well.  


“The Woz”, popular Saskatchewan defensive end Lyall Wosnesensky annoyed opponents with his frequent sack dances 

On September 20th, Saskatchewan had a record of 7-4 and was in the key third place playoff spot after beating the Eastern Riders in a dandy game 26-23 at home.  But the team took two tough losses in Regina to the tough Hamilton and Edmonton squads in the next three weeks to drop to 8-6.  They then whipped Calgary 24-11 to set up a showdown match for third place and the playoffs against the B.C. Lions in the season’s final game at Empire Stadium in Vancouver in a torrential downpour. The monsoon nullified the 'Riders great passing attack, and in a tight tough contest the normally reliable Barnes and rb Greg Fieger missed a handoff deep in their end with less than two minutes to go in the game and B.C. recovered to cash the go ahead TD in a 13-5 win. The great season had ended, but Saskatchewan fans still remember this team and the run they made. 

Contrast this with Calgary, who fielded one of the CFL’s better defenses (especially the secondary), but paired it with an anemic offense. The Stampeders actually had QB Ken Johnson and running back James Sykes, the leading rusher in the CFL, but they could not seem to put the pieces together. With a record of 5-4 on September 7th
they lost three games in succession, starting with an understandable setback versus mighty Edmonton followed by two losses to (then) 0-11 Toronto and Montreal on a disastrous Eastern swing that turned out to be much harder to stomach. 

Now 5-7 and more firmly ensconced in fifth place in the West, Calgary tipped their king and traded Johnson to the Alouettes, finishing up 1981 with a qb rotation of Bruce Threadgill and Jeff Knapple that did not exactly inspire fear in enemy secondaries or produce many wins.  While Sykes was the one 1981 CFL runner to best 100 yards a game in combined yards from scrimmage, he was not enough to overcome the team’s minus 11 turnover ratio as the Stamps fell to a final record of 6–10. 



Former Rice University product James Sykes ran for a thousand yards four times in the CFL. 


Gamers might try their hand at improving this record; it might take some creativity. Calgary is excellent against the pass, but they also turn the ball over more than three times per game. Both teams can be entertaining; and with a little luck either could make the Western divisionals. But actually winning the West would mean beating Winnipeg or the other Prairie team, the elephant in the room, three-time Grey Cup champion Edmonton. And those Eskimos await another post. 

Fred Bobberts

Initial Date of Publication: July 20, 2025

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

“The Beasts of the East” - Cards for Ottawa and Hamilton -Retro 1981 CFL teams for SOM Football

 


Tony Gabriel

“The Beasts of the East”  - Cards for Retro Canadian Football 🏈 for SOM Pro Football






The 1981 CFL Postseason Structure

Eastern CFL football back in this era had several characteristics- smash mouth running, great defense, particularly in Hamilton, the Alouettes trying to buy championships, and the nifty Ti-Cats quarterbacking of former Notre Dame star Tom Clements. Under normal circumstances the East could battle the  wide open teams of the West on a more or less equal footing. But this year was very different. Toronto imploded offensively and allowed over 31 points per game in posting the season’s worst record at 2-14, and Montreal also allowed over 500 points and won only three games. This left Hamilton at 11-4-1 and Ottawa at 5-11 as the only real Grey Cup contenders in the East. 



Tom Clements 


Together the four Eastern teams finished 9-30-1 against the West, and this caused a problem, because under the post season system at the time both divisions would feature a semi- Final playoff game between their third and second place teams with the winner going to the division Final. These teams were 10-6 BC and 11-5 Winnipeg at Winnipeg Stadium in the West; 3-13 Montreal at 5-11 Ottawa at Landsdowne Park in the East.  This the unbalanced postseason slate wound up including the Capital’s representatives in the Eastern Final, selected with only 5 wins and advancing after beating 3-win Montreal, over the Western division’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who finished 9-7. 



There had been some crazy multi-game playoff formats in the two divisions prior to 1973, but that year brought at least a common format to the playoff competition. But this format held a flaw- before the era of the crossover playoff spot began in 1996,  CFL governors had had enough of sad-sack Eastern teams finishing third and gaining a semi-final playoff spot merely because the fourth place outfit was an even sadder sack. Between 1974 and 1985, every single East team that finished third in the division was under .500 on the year. Eight times, during that stretch, the fourth place finisher in the West had a better record. 

1981 was particularly galling, perhaps stinging Eastern pride the most, while raising Western ire to the max as the  Ottawa Rough Riders made it to the Grey Cup after finishing the regular season with a 5-11 record. The Montreal Alouettes, at 3-13, secured the final post-season berth in the division, while over in the West, the popular Saskatchewan entry wound up fourth and out of the picture, with a record of 9-7.  A remedy was demanded and concocted.  It was simple: If a fourth place team in one division finished with a better record than the third place team in the other, that fourth place team would be granted a playoff spot. 

Capital Punishment

The new rule in the Nineties would not have prevented these two teams from eventually facing off in the Eastern Final, as it was Montreal who finished third.  Hamilton was led by quarterback Clements, the Schenley Award MOP runner up.  He threw for over 4500 yards to lead the team to a tie versus the powerful Edmonton Esks and an 11-4-1 record in spite of fielding Canada’s worst rushing attack. Coach Frank Kush molded a rock ribbed Ti-Cat defense starring three All-Canada performers in Ben Zambiasi (LB), David Shaw (CB) and Harold Woods (DB), and Rookie of the Year DE Grover Covington who made life tough for enemy passers. Hamilton did not blow many opponents away, but they were consistently a tough draw all year long. 

Meanwhile Ottawa Head Coach George Brancato described the team's evolution that year, stating, "That year I put together three teams. We had a bad team to start the season, then a fair one, and then a pretty good one". This turnaround made the 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season memorable despite their eventual championship game loss. They had a lot more talent than their record indicated, because their problems really stemmed from a lack of cohesive quarterbacking. Jordan Case was the closest thing they had as a regular, but he was often injured and ineffective.  Down the stretch rookie Kevin Starkey shared time with Oklahoma product J.C. Watts.  

Whatever polish Watts lacked as a passer he more than made up with in leadership and toughness, and he was able to make big throws downfield and break explosive plays with his legs.  He posted 260 yards rushing at a 7.0 yard average in only 9 games, adding to the toughness of a strong line and backfield. Both FB Sam Platt and HB Richard Crump provided solid carries behind a great blocking line. Meanwhile the defense, “The Capital Punishers”, had three hard hitting all- Canadian performers in DL Mike Raines and Greg Marshall and FS Randy Rhino.  The receiving corps was led by Hall of Famer Tony Gabriel.  With Watts’s ascension, the stage was set for some memorable play.

First the team stopped Montreal at Landsdowne Stadium 20-16, and then topped Hamilton at Ivor Wynne stadium 17-13 on an unbelievable late fourth quarter 102 yard catch and run by Pat Stoqua, the Ottawa wingback.  Stoqua’s catch, which came on a downfield sideline heave from Watts from his end zone as he was under heavy duress, gave the Rough Riders a 14-13 lead they would not relinquish. 

The best was yet to come. The Grey Cup was held in Montreal, and the locals put aside their Eastern differences to root against a common enemy, the defending three-time champion Edmonton Eskimos.  No team had ever won four Grey Cups in a row, nor had any team finished 14-1-1 in a season the way Edmonton had. But the Roughriders came out doing something no other team had done against Edmonton; they ran the ball well against Canada’s best run defense and threw for big plays. By halftime Ottawa was winning 20-1 and it was the veteran Tom Wilkinson and not Warren Moon under center. No one could believe what they were seeing, Edmonton, as 22.5 point favorites, looked like they might get blown out. 


This got worse before it got better! 

Moon returned in the third quarter, and the Esks rallied, winning 26-23 on a Dave Cutler field goal. But the Ottawa squad was as noble in defeat as they had been in victory, and this game is still celebrated as one of the greatest in CFL history. J.C. Watts was the Grey Cup Most Outstanding Player, reflecting the impact he had on the game and the end of the season. 

Fred Bobberts
Original Date of Publication: 7-16-2025

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

“Forever Playoff Rivals” - Cards for the 1981 BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers for SOM Football





“Forever Playoff Rivals” - Retro Cards for the 1981 B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers for SOM Football 🏈 

(The other two teams might lack talent, but that is not a problem with these two!)

PDF cards for the 1981 B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS

1981-Lions-and-Blue-Bombers.docx (Roster Sheets)

Other 1981 CFL Retro Cards

Whether it’s the mosquitoes, The Forks, Bachman Turner Overdrive or that iconic portrait of the Queen that used to overlook the ice at the old hockey arena, there is always something unique that comes to mind when someone mentions the city of Winnipeg. One thing that hasn’t changed over the last 90 years is the presence of their football team. And that leads us to our this latest 1981 history project. The B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have engaged in some classic battles over the years. There were two memorable Grey Cup meetings, a nasty West Division rivalry in the 80s, a crazy Lions come back in 2016 and a whole lot more.

Prior to the original Montreal Alouettes shutting down in 1987, the Bombers were a West Division Club. The 80s opened with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stuck behind an Edmonton Eskimos dynasty that won five straight Grey Cups from 1978-82 – losing to the eventual champions in both the 1980 and 1982 West Final – before closing the chapter on that dynasty with a victory in the 1983 West Semi-Final.  Martin Scorsese himself would have a hard-time directing or writing some of the epic Western battles between these two teams prior to their first 1988 Grey Cup meeting (Winnipeg was in the East by then).



Trainers administer to Lions WR John Pankratz during the WC Semi-Final

And that first playoff meeting with the Lions in that memorable decade was a 15-11 B.C. victory in the 1981 Western Semi-Final.  While it was an unexpected and epic win - Winnipeg had dominated the Lions during the regular season, winning both prior games- few would remember it, simply because the Lions then fell to Edmonton in the division final the following week. It’s a pity the Lions- Bombers game is not available on YouTube, because it featured an array of 6 and 7 defensive back sets interspersed with a 4-4 “Swarm” blitz rotation on running downs.  

CFL Play 101




CFL teams normally deployed 5 defensive backs.  In those days a 5-1-6 or 5-7 defense as a base set in a playoff game, as the Lions unfurled versus Dieter Brock, was quite a risk, but B.C. had used such defensive trickery to hold the powerful Hamilton Tiger Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders to one combined touchdown in the two prior immediate games after the team had lost five out of six.  The win against Saskatchewan in particular had saved their season. The Lions’ Western Semi-Final win thus cemented their place as one of the top teams in the 1981 CFL. 


Now 70, former Long Beach State QB Joe Paopao had a long career as a signal caller and coach in the CFL. 


But in reality both teams were loaded. B.C. finished 10-6 and featured two all-Canada players on offense in C Al Wilson, a seven time Divisional All Star who is also in the Hall of Fame, and Larry Key, a former Florida State player who finished second in the league in rushing yards, and topped it with 19 total major scores.  QB Joe Paopao had his best year throwing to Tyron Gray, who tallied 1481 yards and 9 scores, TE Ricky Ellis (of the USFL’s LA Express) and flanker Al Charuk. The defense had a couple fine players in Nick Hebeler, a strong pass rushing end, and LB Glen Jackson. 


Dieter Brock unloaded for 4,796 yards in 1981, just shy of Dan Fouts’ record of 4,802 yards set that fall. 

Winnipeg finished in second at 11-5 in the rugged West, and they had Brock, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the CFL (although on film I would say Warren Moon of the Esks looks more formidable), and a pair of divisional all-stars in ends Joe Poplawski and Eugene Goodlow, who led the league with 14 TD catches. Goodlow caught a franchise record fifteen passes in the regular season finale to become the first CFL player with 100 catches.  Rick House also became a third thousand yard target, with 81 catches, over 1100 yards, and 10 major scores. All- Canadian guard Larry Butler and versatile HB Obie Graves rounded out an elite offense. On defense end Pete Catan, MLB James Reed, and defensive backs Charlie Williams and Reggie Pierson allowed the second fewest points in the CFL and the team posted the second best turnover differential.  Trevor Kennerd, the Blue Bomber placekicker, led Canada in scoring and made field goals, setting the league record with 39 makes as well as seven in one game. 

Winnipeg had won their last six in the regular season by frightful scores (an average margin of over 28 points!) and the team had every reason to look forward to playing Edmonton for the West Division championship and a chance at the Grey Cup, but they stumbled versus the Lions and would, instead, have to wait. 



Empire Stadium, the home of the B.C. Lions in Vancouver up until 1982.  

The meat of this rivalry then came Post- Empire Stadium, the traditional outdoor Lions den in Vancouver.  The two teams played in three consecutive Western Finals at the new domed BC Place from 1983-85. The Lions 39-21 victory in ’83 in front of 60,000 fans at the new dome was special for a lot of reasons. It was the first division final played in Vancouver since 1964.  

Eventually, the ’84 Bombers ended what had then been the longest championship drought in franchise history – dating back to 1962 – by beating the Eskimos at home, knocking off the Lions on the road and then eviscerating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup.  

If the 50s and 60s were the Golden Era for Winnipeg Football, the Eighties were Golden Era 2.0. For both teams, they hit each other just a little bit harder in the Eighties, each knowing what was at stake. And even now, they are still Forever Rivals once they meet in the playoffs. 


Fred Bobberts

Initial Date of Publication - 7/8/2025



Monday, June 30, 2025

“What We’re Made Of” C.F.L. Cards for retro SOM 1981 Canadian Football

 



Retro Pro Football 🏈 cards for Les Alouettes de Montreal and the Toronto Argonauts of the 1981 CFL Eastern Division


Lineupscfl6-30.pdf (PDFs of the 1981 Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts)


Rosters 1981-Argonauts-and-Alouettes.docx


SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS


Other 1981 CFL Retro Cards









Note to my Canadian friends (this means you, Nez1, jiggypop, leespurge, and the rest !) I promised you guys Canadian football teams, but not necessarily good Canadian football teams. These are fun prototypes for scrimmages though, and I will eventually build this out. 






The 1981 CFL season was its 28th, but it is considered the 24th official season. It’s a very cool season to me because it has the original lineup of nine Canadian- only teams in two divisions; 1981 was the first CFL year where every team played the other teams “home and home” for a balanced schedule. The CFL then had both Rough Riders and Roughriders, with the latter based then (as now) in Saskatchewan and the former in Ottawa, now called the Redblacks.





I’ve chosen 1981 because long ago a guy named Gerry Parsh sent me a mountain of info on this season when he left the hobby, including bits from a game called “Sports Action Football”.  Sports Action Football looked a lot like APBA, suspiciously so, but when I realized you could card a defense to have a twelfth man in coverage I immediately saw the Strat-O- Matic  possibilities. I owe Gerry a deep debt; he loved both the CFL and Fifties NFL Football. 




Sports Action Football Rules, c1977


And being a Detroiter, I loved Canada, from Ouellete Street, to the Queen’s Highway, from the Gardens (and Seagrams VO plant) in nearby Amherstburg to the Windsor Ballet. 



They did things differently in Canada; laundry detergent and petrol pumps there had instructions in two languages and you paid by the litre.  While the Tigers stacked their lineups with slow moving lefties who took dead aim at the overhang in right field with middling success, the Expos stole Ron LeFlore, our only decent baserunner, in 1980 and then swiped 237 bases in a season, about a decade’s worth of work in Detroit. I watched all this on CBC, along with the CFL, when I got lucky and they were televised. 



Oops they forgot the Tiger-Cats!


For these two teams 1981 was a season of change. The Montreal Alouettes had won Grey Cups in 1970 and 1977 but had fallen on hard times, and they chased respectability by bringing in “imports”, in many cases players with NFL experience. Chief among these for 1981 was Vince Ferragamo, who had taken the Rams to Super Bowl XIV and had thrown 30 TDs in 1980.  In 1981, Ferragamo jumped to the Montreal Alouettes, thanks to a $600,000-a-year contract.  This was a large amount back in the day even by NFL standards, especially compared to $250,000 the Rams offered him, and the $47,500 they had paid him for his fine work in 1980.  Being immobile in a mobile QB’s league, Ferragamo had a difficult time adjusting to the style of the CFL, completing 175 of 342 passes (51.2%) for 2,175 yards, with only seven touchdown passes against 25 interceptions. He was demoted to the backup position for Gerry Dattilio in the latter half of the season and then to third-string quarterback for the final three games after Ken Johnson arrived from Calgary in a trade.




The Alouettes had David Overstreet from Oklahoma, the leading ball carrier in the East Division, a CFL Hall of Famer in end Peter Della Riva, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson had one good year up there before coming back to the NFL in 1982, and they fielded an All-Canadian receiver in former Chicago Bears star James Scott. But they could not put all the pieces together and finished 3-13. Amazingly enough they made the playoffs under the tiered system of the time, but their season ended when they got pipped by Ottawa 20-16 in the first round. 





Ferragamo’s contract sank the Alouettes. Suffering big losses the team folded with $2m in debt after 1981, and Nelson Skalbania was replaced under new ownership by Charles Bronfman, the owner of the Expos. The team was renamed the Concordes, but they would soon reorganize again, and they would not be Grey Cup winners until 2002. 





The Toronto Argonauts are the New York Yankees of the CFL, but no self-respecting Canadian will appreciate the parallel even if there is some truth to it.  They have won the most (19) Grey Cups including this past year’s contest, in 2024.  But during this arcane post-War period they actually went 31 years between Cups, starting on November 29, 1952 and ending on November 27, 1983.  Argo QB Condredge Holloway is a good example of a good QB on a bad team; he had help in players Bruce Clark and Bob Gaddis, but while his season was up and down, Holloway’s surrounding cast wasn’t healthy or explosive, and the defense was terrible. Better days were ahead for Holloway, who would be the outstanding player in the CFL the next year.  The 1981 Argos finished 2-14 and were knocked out of the running for the East playoffs in the season’s final week.  


A few comments on Rouges/ Simples and the game in general;


The kickers have red numbers in their FG misses. If you hit this number or range it’s an automatic single. But if you miss a FG then the other team follows this sequence of play: 


  1. roll three six sided dice for how far back in the end zone the kick lands, (ie “12” is twelve yards deep); 
  2. Roll two dice if the team has two kick returners (retourners de botte d’envoi) 2-7 is the #1 back; 8-12 is the #2 back;
  3. The team can either concede the point and take it at their 35 or bring it out. These decisions are the essence of Canadian Football strategy;
  4. If the defensive team does bring it out kick return yardage is DOUBLED.  This reflects that these returns (then as now!) are very dangerous plays; it is usually better strategy, unless at the end of a half as the offense, to punt than kick a 50 yarder. You can look it up, kick returns in these situations lead to big plays.  (You know this if you were watching the Argo's Derek Slywka this past weekend against Ottawa !);
  5. If the returner makes it out he saves the point; 
  6. This is true for punts, too, and the CFL end zone is 25 yards deep in 1981. So a 54 yard punt from the 30 would be just inside the end line, -24 yards.  Punt returners should not get the double bonus, though, so in many cases the possible poor field position is worth conceding the point. A punt downed in the end zone (which is rare) is a single. 
  7. Don’t forget a CFL field is 110 yards, as in 40….50…C…50….40 so an eight yard gain from your 52 is down to the opponent’s 50.  This explains the onsides kick chart!  
  8. It’s the three minute warning that stops play near the end of each half. Running plays should take 45 seconds. 
  9. Yes, I have the data and I will probably make a penalties chart at some point, but they are (naturellement) different au Canada 🇨🇦 and even more so then versus now. This will take some thought;
  10. Don’t forget the CFL uses three downs. It is surprising how much first down running they tried, however. An optional rule would be to use the draw play from the modern SOM game, removing defenders on pass calls but also counting as a key on a basic run call. The teams would also go for it on third and short in some cases, then as now, and especially Tom Higgins, the modern day Alouettes coach who attempts this about a fifth of the time avec Les Jeux de “Dan Campbell.”
  11. Almost forgot! Wingback is a tool position in the CFL, especially the old CFL. These two teams used the position essentially for a third WR (so two runners, a TE and 3WR) and kept their backs in to block. But a team like Ottawa used TE/ BB/ FB type guys and ran them as a third runner, or blocker or receiver. Think of a Canadian twelve man version of Joe Gibbs’ offenses. The wingback as a receiver is covered by the fourth defensive back, simply the halfback. 

For your gaming pleasure, just expand this up about 10-20 times: 





Fred J. Bobberts
Initial Date of Publication - Canada Day, July 1, 2025.

PS: a glossary of French Canadian football 🏈 terms
(Max, the Blue Bombers will be in English!)
Echappe is fumble (hence E -2 is fumble minus 2)
Echappee is breakaway or long gain
Gain court is Short Gain
Pression is pressure (Pass Rush)
Receveur is receiver 
Jue Improvise is must run (literally a broken play)
Ailier is end-
Balayage de l’aile is to sweep around end (End Run)
Ailier approche is tight end
Ailier ecarte is split end 
Ailier defensif is defensive end
Bloqueur means tackle-
Bloqueur offensif a droite would be right offensive tackle
Bloqueur defensif a gauche is left defensive tackle 
Du Bloqueur means Off Tackle
Plonger de la ligne means dive into the line or Linebuck; a quarterback sneak is actually faufilade de quart but I didn’t go that far. I kept it “Linebuck”.
Quart- Arriere means quarterback
Centre-Arriere is fullback
Secondeur is Linebacker
Demi is halfback-
Demi defensif a gauche is left cornerback
Demi offensif is offensive halfback
Demi Supplementaire is the fifth DB, he covers the wingback
Demi insere is the wingback
Maraudeur Fort is tight or strong safety, easily the best French position name in the CFL 
Maraudeur Libre is the free safety. 


 🇨🇦