The 77th Grey Cup was the
1989 Canadian Football League championship game played between the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
and 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 ...
at
SkyDome in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
; this was the first Grey Cup game held at the stadium as it opened in June 1989. The Roughriders defeated the Tiger-Cats, 43–40 on
Dave Ridgway
David Ridgway (born April 24, 1959) is a former placekicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. His CFL career began in 1981 when he was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes. He did not make the squad that year and retur ...
's winning field-goal.
Game summary
Saskatchewan Roughriders (43) – TDs,
Ray Elgaard
Raymond Elgaard (born August 29, 1959) is a former Canadian Football League slotback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1983 through 1996, including winning the 77th Grey Cup in 1989. A big man, he was noted for his reliability as a receiver ...
,
Jeff Fairholm
Jeff Fairholm (born November 7, 1965) is a former professional Canadian football player. He played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League as a slotback and wide receiver. He was a member of Saskat ...
,
Donald Narcisse
Donald Narcisse (born February 26, 1965) is a former wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Texas Southern University. He signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent on Septemb ...
,
Tim McCray
Tim McCray (born August 20, 1960 in Waycross, Georgia) was a Canadian Football League running back for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1984 through 1985, and for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1986 through 1990. He was an All-Star in 1989, the sa ...
; FGs,
Dave Ridgway
David Ridgway (born April 24, 1959) is a former placekicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. His CFL career began in 1981 when he was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes. He did not make the squad that year and retur ...
(4); cons.,
Ridgway (4); single,
Terry Baker
Terry Wayne Baker (born May 5, 1941) is a former American football and basketball player. He played college football and basketball at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Baker played as a quarterba ...
; safety touch.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (40) – TDs,
Tony Champion
Tony Champion (born March 19, 1963 in Humboldt, Tennessee) is a former American football and Canadian Football League player.
Early sports career
A multi-sport star, Champion lived up to his name as a football standout at the high school, coll ...
(2),
Derrick McAdoo
Derrick McAdoo is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He was a CFL All-Star in 1989.
McAdoo signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 198 ...
(2); FGs,
Paul Osbaldiston
Paul Osbaldiston (born April 27, 1964) is a former punter and placekicker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League from 1986-2003. He was the Assistant Special Teams/Kicking Coach for the Tiger-Cats until 2014. Osbaldiston w ...
(4); cons.,
Osbaldiston (4).
First Quarter
HAM—FG Osbaldiston 42 (10:38) HAM 3 SSK 0
HAM—FG Osbaldiston 38 (5:51) HAM 6 SSK 0
SSK—Single Baker 50 yard punt (4:09) HAM 6 SSK 1
HAM—TD Champion 13 pass from Kerrigan (Osbaldiston kick) (0:15) HAM 13 SSK 1
Second Quarter
SSK—TD Elgaard 5 pass from Austin (Ridgway kick) (9:22) HAM 13 SSK 8
HAM—TD McAdoo 30 pass from Kerrigan (Osbaldiston kick) (6:59) HAM 20 SSK 8
SSK—TD Fairholm 75 pass from Austin (Ridgway kick) (6:31) HAM 20 SSK 15
HAM—TD McAdoo 1 run (Osbaldiston kick) (2:30) HAM 27 SSK 15
SSK—TD Narcisse 5 pass from Austin (Ridgway kick) (0:44) HAM 27 SSK 22
Third Quarter
SSK—FG Ridgway 35 (10:42) HAM 27 SSK 25
HAM—FG Osbaldiston 40 (8:11) HAM 30 SSK 25
SSK—Safety Osbaldiston concedes in end zone (4:54) HAM 30 SSK 27
SSK—TD McCray 1-yard run (Ridgway kick) (2:51) SSK 34 HAM 30
Fourth Quarter
SSK—FG Ridgway 25 (14:10) SSK 37 HAM 30
HAM—FG Osbaldiston 47 (6:21) SSK 37 HAM 33
SSK—FG Ridgway 20 (1:58) SSK 40 HAM 33
HAM—TD Champion 9 pass from Kerrigan (Osbaldiston kick) (0:44) SSK 40 HAM 40
SSK—FG Ridgway 35 (0:03) SSK 43 HAM 40
After an up-and-down regular season, finishing 9-9 on the year, the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
made the playoffs and were huge underdogs to make it to the
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 ...
. However, the Roughriders managed to defeat 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 ...
in the West Semi-Final 33-26 and went on to the Western Final to defeat the heavily favoured
Edmonton Eskimos (who set a CFL record with 16 wins) 32-21, to reach the Grey Cup game.
In the Grey Cup game, the Riders were set to face the number one team in the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
, 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 ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. The Tiger-Cats had seven all-stars in their lineup and football experts assumed that it would be a huge blowout for Hamilton.
At the beginning of the game, it seemed that the football experts were right when the jubilant Saskatchewan fans were silenced when Tiger-Cats kicker,
Paul Osbaldiston
Paul Osbaldiston (born April 27, 1964) is a former punter and placekicker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League from 1986-2003. He was the Assistant Special Teams/Kicking Coach for the Tiger-Cats until 2014. Osbaldiston w ...
kicked his first two field goals to give Hamilton an early 6-0 lead, while the Saskatchewan offence was struggling. But by the mid-way point of the second quarter, the Riders offence began to show signs of life, when QB,
Kent Austin
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
had completed touchdown passes to
Ray Elgaard
Raymond Elgaard (born August 29, 1959) is a former Canadian Football League slotback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1983 through 1996, including winning the 77th Grey Cup in 1989. A big man, he was noted for his reliability as a receiver ...
,
Jeff Fairholm
Jeff Fairholm (born November 7, 1965) is a former professional Canadian football player. He played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League as a slotback and wide receiver. He was a member of Saskat ...
and
Donald Narcisse
Donald Narcisse (born February 26, 1965) is a former wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Texas Southern University. He signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent on Septemb ...
. On the last play before of the second quarter,
Dave Ridgway
David Ridgway (born April 24, 1959) is a former placekicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. His CFL career began in 1981 when he was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes. He did not make the squad that year and retur ...
came on the field to attempt his first field goal of the game, a 50-yarder to pull the game within two, but he ended up missing the field-goal and Hamilton led the game 27-22, after two quarters.
However, by the end of the third quarter, the Riders scored 12 points through a Dave Ridgway field goal, a safety touch and a
Tim McCray
Tim McCray (born August 20, 1960 in Waycross, Georgia) was a Canadian Football League running back for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1984 through 1985, and for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1986 through 1990. He was an All-Star in 1989, the sa ...
touchdown, to move into a 34-30 lead. With just under two minutes left to go in the fourth quarter the Riders went ahead 40-33 after Ridgway kicked his third field goal of the day. But the Hamilton Tiger-Cats refused to surrender to defeat when trailing by seven points. With a well thought, methodical drive, Hamilton's QB
Mike Kerrigan
Michael Joseph Kerrigan (born April 27, 1960) is an American former professional gridiron football quarterback.
College
Kerrigan played high school football at Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago. He was recruited by Yale, Weber State, and Utah, ...
marched his team down the field and tied the game at 40-40 when wide receiver
Tony Champion
Tony Champion (born March 19, 1963 in Humboldt, Tennessee) is a former American football and Canadian Football League player.
Early sports career
A multi-sport star, Champion lived up to his name as a football standout at the high school, coll ...
made an incredible acrobatic catch in the end zone with under a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Overtime loomed, but Saskatchewan still had the ball with a chance to win in regulation. With just 44 seconds left on the game clock, Riders QB Kent Austin completed three passes for 48 yards to position his team for the winning field goal at Hamilton's 26-yard line with nine seconds remaining in the game. Tiger-Cats coach
Al Bruno
Albert P. Bruno (March 28, 1927 – October 5, 2014) was an American gridiron football player, administrator, and coach who served as the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1983 to 1990.
Early life
He was born in 1927 in West Chester ...
decided to call a time-out in an attempt to make Ridgway nervous, but when
Glen Suitor
Robert Glen Suitor (born November 24, 1962) is a Canadian sports broadcaster and retired football defensive back who played eleven seasons for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Currently, he broadcasts CFL games ...
put down the snap from
Bob Poley
Robert "Pole Cat" or "Polecat" Poley (born November 15, 1955 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a former professional Canadian football offensive lineman who played fifteen seasons in the Canadian Football League for two teams. He was named CFL All-St ...
, Ridgway drilled 'The Kick' through the uprights to give Saskatchewan its first Grey Cup championship in 23 years.
The Kick
* Dave Ridgway's field goal winner was known as 'The Kick' in Saskatchewan and that same play was rated #7 in
CBC's 10 best—and bizarre—Grey Cup plays in 2004.
[ ]
Aftermath
For the Grey Cup celebrations, 18,000 fans showed up at Taylor Field, in minus 10 degree Celsius weather to welcome back the club.
[Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.218, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ] A few weeks later, it was revealed that the championship run nearly bankrupted the team. Instead of a projected CAN$85,000 profit, the Riders lost CAN$195,000 due to the cost of the three road games.
General Manager Al Ford declared that the team's debt increased to CAN$1.6 million.
Neither head coach remained with his team for two full seasons after 1989. Bruno was fired following a 4-8 start the following season, while Gregory was ousted after a 1-6 start in 1991. Less than two weeks after his dismissal by the Roughriders, Gregory was hired by the 0-8 Tiger-Cats, replacing Bruno's successor
David Beckman
David Beckman (born June 8, 1938) is a former Canadian Football League head coach.
Beckman began coaching as an assistant at his alma mater, Baldwin–Wallace College. From there he coached at University of Evansville and spent the years of 197 ...
.
1989 CFL Playoffs
West Division
* Semi-final (November 12 @
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...
)
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
33-26
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 ...
* Final (November 19 @
Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...
)
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
32-21
Edmonton Eskimos
East Division
* Semi-final (November 12 @
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
)
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 ...
30-7
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
* Final (November 19 @
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
)
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 ...
14-10
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 ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey Cup
1989 in Canadian football
77
Grey Cups hosted in Toronto
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Saskatchewan Roughriders
1989 in Toronto
1989 in Canadian television
November 1989 sports events in Canada