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. 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.
Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian football, it also hosts athletics, soccer, rugby union and concerts.
The 1997 CFL season is considered to be the 44th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 40th Canadian Football League season.
The 1980 CFL season is considered to be the 27th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 23rd Canadian Football League season.
The 1979 CFL season is considered to be the 26th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 22nd Canadian Football League season.
The 1975 CFL season is considered to be the 22nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 18th Canadian Football League season.
After a 17-year absence, the Saskatchewan Roughriders returned to the Grey Cup final. Their losing streak in the big game continued, however, as it was the other Rough Riders that took home the prize.
The Norm Fieldgate Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy awarded to the outstanding defensive player in the West Division. Each team in the West division nominates a player, from which the winner is chosen. Either the winner of this trophy or the winner of the James P. McCaffrey Trophy will also be the winner of the Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player award. The trophy is named after former BC Lions linebacker Norm Fieldgate.
The Edmonton Eskimos upset the Montreal Alouettes to send the Grey Cup trophy back west for the first time since 1948.
The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the first Grey Cup held in the west. This was also the first year that the Grey Cup was open to professional teams only, as the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union was not invited to compete in an inter-union playdown, leaving only the Eastern Canadian Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Canadian Western Interprovincial Football Union to compete for the Canadian championship.
The Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.
Willie Pless is a former Canadian football linebacker in the Canadian Football League. He played for the Toronto Argonauts, BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, and Saskatchewan Roughriders, winning the 1993 Grey Cup with the Eskimos. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Rod Connop is a former professional Canadian football player for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Connop spent his entire 16-year career with the Eskimos as an offensive lineman. Connop played CIS football at Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. He was named CFL All-Star six times and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award in the 1989 CFL season. Connop played 210 consecutive games with the Eskimos from 1983 until his retirement following the 1997 season. As of 2011, he continued to be the all-time Eskimo leader in games played (274). He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 2005. His son Rory Connop played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL as a defensive lineman.
Willie Leon Manley was an American football player and coach. He was born in Hollis, Oklahoma. He lettered for three seasons as guard at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1949. He was selected in the 1950 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers and was on their roster in 1950 and 1951. Later from 1953 to '54 he played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union. After his playing career was through Manley pursued a coaching career and was a longtime assistant under Darrell Royal at Texas, first as offensive line coach and later succeeding Don Breaux as offensive coordinator. Royal was Manley's childhood friend and later a high school and college teammate.
Stanford Samuels Jr is a former professional Canadian football cornerback and current recruiting coordinator for Louisville Cardinals football. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colts in 2004. He played college football for Florida State.
The 1995 Edmonton Eskimos finished in 2nd place in the North Division with a 13–5 record. They appeared in the North Final.
The following is a select list of Calgary Stampeders all-time records and statistics current to the 2022 CFL season. Single game records that occur during the 2023 CFL season are also included. Each category lists the top five players, where known, except for when the fifth place player is tied in which case all players with the same number are listed.
Mike Miller is a Canadian football fullback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a three-time Grey Cup champion, having won with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015 and with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021. He is the all-time leader in career special teams tackles and holds the record for most special teams tackles in one game with seven. He played CIS football as a defensive back with the Acadia Axemen from 2007 to 2010.
Willie Hebert Jefferson III is a Canadian football defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jefferson is a 3-time Grey Cup champion, winning his first ring at the 103rd Grey Cup with Edmonton in 2015. He then won the 107th and 108th Grey Cups when his Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33–12 in 2019, and then again in 2021, 33-25. He was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2019 with the Bombers, and is a three-time CFL and CFL West All-Star. Jefferson played college football at Stephen F. Austin University, he has also been a member of the Houston Texans, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Washington Redskins.
The 1997 Edmonton Eskimos, coached by Ron Lancaster, finished in 1st place in the West Division with a 12–6 record. They were upset in the West Final by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
