The

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

season was the second season for the team in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) 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 ci ...

. The Redblacks improved upon their unimpressive 2–16 record from

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

after just five games when they collected their third win in week five against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

. Ottawa clinched a playoff berth in week 17 with a victory over the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

on October 16, 2015. The Redblacks became the first Ottawa-based CFL team to have a winning record since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. They were also the first Ottawa-based CFL team to finish first in East Division since the 1978 Rough Riders and the first Ottawa-based team ever to finish with at least 12 regular season wins. The Redblacks posted the fifth best winning percentage posted by a second year expansion team in any established North American professional sports league after the 1951 Cleveland Browns, the 1995 Baltimore Stallions, the 1996 Carolina Panthers and the 1997 Montreal Alouettes – although of those four teams, only the Stallions and Panthers were expansion teams in the same sense as the Redblacks and only the Panthers had a losing record in their inaugural season. On November 22, 2015, the Redblacks defeated the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

35–28 in the Eastern Final to advance to their first

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is 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 be ...

game, which they lost 26–20 to the

Edmonton Eskimos 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 the Brick Field at Commo ...

. It was the first time that an Ottawa CFL team advanced to the

game since the 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders.

Off-season

Trades

On January 15, 2015, the Redblacks traded

Jasper Simmons Jasper Simmons (born August 20, 1989) is a Canadian football linebacker. He played for the Calgary Stampeders and the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Missouri. College career Simmons attended ...

and

Dan Buckner Dan Buckner (born May 31, 1990) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He played college football at the University of Arizona, and before that for the University of Texas at Austin where he played in the 2010 BCS ...

to the

in exchange for

Maurice Price Maurice Price (born September 11, 1985) is a former gridiron football wide receiver who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free age ...

. Ottawa is hoping that Price can provide the offense with some explosiveness which the team lacked during its inaugural season.

Free agency

Within the first two days of the start of the free agency period, the Redblacks made four substantial acquisitions. On February 10, 2015, the Redblacks signed Ernest Jackson from the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

to a two-year, $270,000 deal. The next day Ottawa announced they had signed

Greg Ellingson Greg Ellingson (born December 30, 1988) is an American professional Canadian football wide receiver for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at FIU Golden Panthers football, Florida International ...

(from the Tiger-Cats),

SirVincent Rogers SirVincent Rogers (born May 9, 1986) is a former gridiron football offensive lineman who played professionally for 12 years. He spent the bulk of his career with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL) where he won the 104th Gr ...

(from the

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...

), and former

Ottawa Gee-Gees The Ottawa Gee-Gees are the athletic teams that represent the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. The Gee-Gees won the national football championship, the Vanier Cup, in 1975 and 2000, while also appearing in the game in the 1970, 1980, an ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and current wide receiver

Brad Sinopoli Bradley Sinopoli (born April 14, 1988) is a former Canadian football wide receiver who played for nine years in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was originally a quarterback with the Calgary Stampeders before being converted to wide receive ...

(from the Stampeders). On April 21, 2015, the Redblacks announced they had signed wide receiver Chris Williams. Williams had a very productive two seasons with the Ti-Cats accumulating 153 receptions for 2,362 receiving yards 17 receiving touchdowns, 1,198 punt return yards and five punt returns for touchdowns.

CFL Draft

The 2015 CFL Draft took place on May 12, 2015. The Redblacks had six selections in the seven-round draft, including the first overall pick where they selected Ottawa native Alex Mateas. The club traded their third-round pick to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

for Justin Phillips.

Training camp

The Redblacks conducted their spring mini-camp at TD Place Stadium on April 27–29. Rookies reported to training camp on May 27, with veterans following a few days later on May 31. Training camp was held at

Keith Harris Stadium TAAG Park is a FieldTurf stadium located at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on the north-eastern edge of the university campus, where Bronson Avenue meets University Road. The stadium was renamed TAAG Park in August 2022. Known as ...

on the campus of

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Preseason

Due to the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

taking place in June at

TD Place Stadium TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street (Ottawa), Bank S ...

, the Redblacks played their home pre-season game at

Telus Stadium The ("Laval University Sports and Physical Education Complex"), usually called PEPS for short, is a sports complex located in Quebec City, Quebec, on the Université Laval campus. PEPS opened in 1970 and includes an outdoor stadium, an indoor st ...

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on the campus of the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

. It was the second game that an Ottawa CFL franchise played in Quebec City, with the first being in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, and the second consecutive year that the Redblacks played their home pre-season game away from Ottawa. : Games played with colour uniforms.

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

: Games played with colour uniforms. : Games played with white uniforms. : Games played with alternate uniforms.

Off-season

Trades

Free agency

CFL Draft

Training camp

Preseason

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

Post-season

Schedule

Team

Roster

Coaching staff

References