1995 Baltimore Stallions season

Last updated

1995 Baltimore Stallions season
Owner Jim Speros
General manager Jim Popp
Head coach Don Matthews
Home field Memorial Stadium
Local radio WCBM
Results
Record15–3
Division place1st, South
Playoff finishWon Grey Cup
Team MVP Mike Pringle
Team ROY Chris Wright
Uniform
CFL Jersey BAL 1994.png

The 1995 Baltimore Stallions season was the second and final season in the history of the Baltimore CFL franchise. The team became the first (and to date, only) American-based football team to win the Grey Cup. Despite the Stallions success, attendance dropped. The club only sold 9,000 season tickets. [1] The 1994 and 1995 Stallions radio flagship station was WJFK, 1300AM in Baltimore. Owned by Infinity Broadcasting, Bruce Cunningham of Fox45 TV served as play-by-play announcer, with former NFL Baltimore Colts stars Joe Washington, Bruce Laird, and Tom Matte providing analysis, and Mark Thoner of WLIF-FM as Producer.

Contents

As it turned out, the 83rd Grey Cup would be the last game the Stallions would ever play. A week before the Grey Cup, the Cleveland Browns announced they were moving to Baltimore. Owner Jim Speros balked at the prospect of competing with an NFL team and opted to move elsewhere. When it became apparent that the CFL was giving up its attempt to gain a foothold in the United States, he opted to move his team to Montreal as the Montreal Alouettes. In doing so, Speros canceled his franchise in Baltimore and revived the 1946–86 Alouettes franchise. As a result, the 1995 season is officially the last season of Stallions history, and the Stallions are officially one of only two Grey Cup champions in the modern era to fold.

Preseason

GameDateOpponentResultsVenueAttendance
ScoreRecord
1Sat, June 17 Ottawa Rough Riders W 45–111–0 Memorial Stadium 20,642
2Sat, June 24 Birmingham Barracudas W 37–02–0 Miami Orange Bowl 20,216

[2]

Regular season

Season standings

South Division
TeamGPWLTPtsPFPADivStk
Baltimore Stallions 181530305413696–1W10 Details
San Antonio Texans 181260246304575–3W3 Details
Birmingham Barracudas 181080205485183–4L2 Details
Memphis Mad Dogs 18990183463644–3L1 Details
Shreveport Pirates 185130104655140–8L2 Details

[3]

Season schedule

WeekGameDateOpponentResultsVenueAttendance
ScoreRecord
11Fri, June 30at BC Lions L 34–37 [4] 0–1 BC Place 23,999
22Sat, July 8 San Antonio Texans W 50–241–1 Memorial Stadium 31,016
33Sat, July 15at San Antonio TexansW 28–232–1 Alamodome 18,112
44Sat, July 22 Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 43–73–1Memorial Stadium30,641
55Sat, July 29at Birmingham Barracudas W 36–84–1 Legion Field 30,729
66Wed, Aug 2at Edmonton Eskimos W 19–125–1 Commonwealth Stadium 30,698
67Sun, Aug 6at Calgary Stampeders L 15–295–2 McMahon Stadium 24,463
78Sat, Aug 12 Memphis Mad Dogs L 15–255–3Memorial Stadium31,221
89Sat, Aug 19at Memphis Mad DogsW 16–136–3 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 18,249
910Sat, Aug 26 Toronto Argonauts W 41–147–3Memorial Stadium27,853
1011Sat, Sept 2at Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 41–148–3 Ivor Wynne Stadium 23,120
1112Sat, Sept 9Birmingham BarracudasW 28–209–3Memorial Stadium29,013
1213Fri, Sept 15at Shreveport Pirates W 24–1710–3 Independence Stadium 12,445
1314Sat, Sept 23Shreveport PiratesW 42–3211–3Memorial Stadium27,321
1415Sun, Oct 1at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 28–2412–3 Taylor Field 30,738
1516Sat, Oct 7Saskatchewan RoughridersW 29–2713–3Memorial Stadium31,421
16 Bye
1717Sat, Oct 21BC LionsW 28–26 [4] 14–3Memorial Stadium33,208
1818Sun, Oct 29Hamilton Tiger-CatsW 24–1715–3Memorial Stadium29,310

[5]

Playoffs

Mike Pringle ran for 484 playoff yards and four touchdowns in three games. The result was that the Baltimore Stallions made their second straight appearance in the Grey Cup.

RoundDateOpponentResultsVenueAttendance
ScoreRecord
South Semi-FinalSat, Nov 4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 36–211–0 Memorial Stadium 21,040
South FinalSun, Nov 12 San Antonio Texans W 21–112–0Memorial Stadium30,217
83rd Grey Cup Sun, Nov 19Calgary StampedersW 37–203–0 Taylor Field 52,564

Grey Cup

The 83rd Grey Cup was played between the Baltimore Stallions and the Calgary Stampeders at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Stallions won the game by a score of 37–20. [6] It marked the only time that an American-based team won the Grey Cup. Not one television station from Baltimore sent a crew to Regina to cover the Grey Cup game. [7] Only 200 fans showed up for the Stallions Grey Cup celebration. [7] As for the Grey Cup game itself, Chris Wright scored a then CFL record 82 yard punt return touchdown. [8] The aforementioned record stood until the 2018 Grey Cup, with Terry Williams returning a punt for 97 yards to conclude the first half. [8]

Awards and honors

After the season, other Baltimore Stallions' received awards and accomplishments in the CFL, which are:

Relocation to Montreal

In late 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to relocate his NFL club to Baltimore, where they would be rechristened the Baltimore Ravens. This would have made the Stallions the only CFL club ever to directly compete with the NFL, whose season overlaps with the last three months of the CFL season.

In late November, Jim Speros had a Save our Stallions campaign, with January 5 as the deadline to sell 20,000 season tickets. [7] It was revealed that the team was $800,000 in debt. [7]

Stallions owner Jim Speros realized that despite the Stallions' popularity, they could not possibly compete with the NFL. After deals with Norfolk, Virginia and Houston fell through, Speros moved the Stallions to Montreal and revived the old Alouettes name for the 1996 season.

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References

  1. ↑ Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.199, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ISBN   978-1-897277-26-3
  2. ↑ "1995 Baltimore Stallions (CFL) - Pro Football Archives".
  3. ↑ "CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League 2". Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "British Columbia Lions historical Canadian Football League (CFL) scores, schedules, and analytics". Archived from the original on March 11, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Baltimore Stallions". Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Canadian Football League (CFL)". The Canadian Encyclopedia
  7. 1 2 3 4 Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.200, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ISBN   978-1-897277-26-3
  8. 1 2 "Williams sets Grey Cup record with 97-yard punt return TD - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. November 25, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  9. ↑ "CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League". Archived from the original on April 22, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  10. ↑ "CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League". Archived from the original on April 22, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
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