“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

Dropbox links for PDF cards for the 1981 Edmonton Eskimos

1981 Edmonton.docx (Roster Sheet)

SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS

Other 1981 CFL Retro Cards

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-Starter-File.xlsx

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

qb-list1.xlsx

Fred J. Bobberts

Initial Date of Publication: 7-26-2025

“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

Dropbox links for PDF cards for the 1981 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders

1981-Stampeders-and-Roughriders.docx (Roster Sheets)

SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS

Other 1981 CFL Retro Cards

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

“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

Dropbox links for PDF cards for the 1981 Ottawa Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats

1981-Tiger-Cats-and-Rough-Riders.docx (Roster Sheets)

SOM PRO FOOTBALL LINKS

Other 1981 CFL Retro Cards

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

“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