The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division. As of 2024, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The Elks were founded in 1949 as the Edmonton Eskimos and have won the Grey Cup championship fourteen times, most recently in 2015 and the most of any CFL club based in Western Canada. The team has a rivalry with the Calgary Stampeders and is one of the three community-owned teams in the CFL. The team discontinued using the Eskimos name in 2020, with the new name Elks formally announced on June 1, 2021.
Bernie Faloney was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League and an outstanding American college football player at the University of Maryland. Born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Faloney is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame. Faloney's jersey #10 was retired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999. In 2005, Faloney was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006, Faloney was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's Top 50 Players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.
Jacob Gill Gaudaur, Jr., was a Canadian Football League (CFL) player, executive, and commissioner. His 45-year career in Canadian football, including 16 years as the league's fourth commissioner, oversaw the start of the modern era of professional Canadian football. As an amateur artist, Gaudaur made two important contributions, designing both the Hamilton Tiger-Cats "Leaping Tiger" logo, as well as an early version of the CFL logo. With Ralph Sazio, he co-wrote "The Tiger-Cat Marching Song", the fight song of the Tiger-Cats.
Darryl Dale Rogers was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at California State College at Hayward—now known as California State University, East Bay (1965), California State University, Fresno (1966–1972), San Jose State University (1973–1975), Michigan State University (1976–1979), and Arizona State University (1980–1984), compiling a career college football record of 129–84–7. From 1985 to 1988, Rogers was the head coach of Detroit Lions the National Football League (NFL), tallying a mark of 18–40. In 1991, served as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL), coaching the Blue Bombers to a 9–9 record and an appearance in the East Final.
Herbert "Herb" William Gray was an All-American from the University of Texas who played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1956 to 1965.
Kenneth Ploen was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Charles Kaye Vaughan was an American-born Canadian professional football player, a lineman with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for twelve seasons. He won the CFL's Outstanding Lineman Award in 1956 and 1957 and is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Carroll Wayne Harris was an American professional football player who was a linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1961 through 1972. His son, Wayne Harris, Jr., coaches football and also played for the Stampeders of the CFL.
Willie Fleming is a former professional Canadian football player with the Canadian Football League's BC Lions. Fleming played collegiately as a halfback at the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Hawkeyes' 1959 Rose Bowl championship team. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, and the BC Lions Wall of Fame. Fleming's number 15 jersey is one of eight numbers retired by the Lions. In 2003, Fleming was voted a member of the BC Lions All-Time Dream Team as part of the club's 50th anniversary celebration. In 2006, Fleming was voted to the Honour Roll of the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.
Edwin Fitzgerald James was a Canadian professional football and ice hockey player. He played as a running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) between 1952 and 1964 and as a right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1960. His is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, like his father, Eddie James, who also played for the Blue Bombers. James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The Most Outstanding Lineman Award was an award annually given to the best defensive player or offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League from the year 1955 to 1973. By the 1974 season, the league decided to make two separate awards for both defensive players and offensive linemen.
Zeno Karcz was a linebacker in the Canadian Football League.
William Edward Miller was a running back in the Canadian Football League.
Terry Greer is a former professional American and Canadian football player who played wide receiver with the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts and the NFL Cleveland Browns as well as the San Francisco 49ers. He held the CFL record for most catches in a season; he is a member of the Argonauts all-time team and his #10 has been honored by the team. Terry Greer was the first to gain 2,000 yards receiving in a professional football season.
John B. Barrow was an American college and professional football player who was an offensive and defensive tackle in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for fourteen seasons in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Barrow played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, he played professionally for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, and was later inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Anthony Michael Teresa was an American gridiron football halfback. He played college football for San Jose State, then played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL), National Football League (NFL), and American Football League (AFL).
The 1957 Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished in first place in the East Division with a 10–4 record and won the Grey Cup over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Tiger-Cats played the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen in the preseason, which would prove to be the last time they would play an Ontario Rugby Football Union team.
CFL on NBC is a de facto branding for the Canadian Football League (CFL) games that have been carried on American broadcaster NBC or its sports network, NBCSN.
The following is a list of first round selections from Canadian College Drafts from 1956 to 1969, which are annual sports drafts in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) selected eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from the ranks of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football or NCAA college football. Member clubs made selections based on the reverse order of the previous year's standings, with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection. Prior to 1956, only Interprovincial Rugby Football Union clubs participated in the draft while the Western Interprovincial Football Union not only chose by territorial rights, but would also try to sign away players that were drafted by eastern clubs. To create a level playing field, the Canadian Football Council was formed which later evolved into the Canadian Football League. Following the creation of the CFC, all nine member clubs participated in the 1956 draft. The order of selection was determined by reverse record with the losing conference picking first.
