The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern-day

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

, the 50th season of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28 at the

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...

in Toronto, Ontario and concluded on November 3. The playoffs began on November 11 and ended with the championship game, the 95th Grey Cup, at the

in Toronto, on November 25, 2007, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as champions.

CFL News in 2007

Schedule

On February 14, 2007, the CFL announced the game schedule for the 2007 season, introducing a 19-week schedule that included 18 regular-season games and one bye week for each team. Bye weeks were taken consecutively by each division beginning with the

East East 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 fact that ea ...

in Week 8, creating two weeks of divisional rivalry games. The year's regular-season schedule kicked off on Canada Day weekend and included the CFL's annual traditional rivalries — highlighted by the

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

and Thanksgiving Classics. The

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

game returned to

Ivor Wynne Stadium Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger ...

on induction weekend and featured 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 (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

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 (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

on September 15. The regular-season concluded with a triple-header on Saturday, November 3, as teams finalized post-season positioning before the Division Semi-Finals began eight days later on Sunday, November 11. The CFL's Division Championships qualified the season's two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () 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 between the winners ...

competing teams one week later on November 18. The 2007 season officially concluded with the 95th Grey Cup on Sunday, November 25, returning to Toronto for the first time since 1992.

Television

On February 28, 2007, the CFL announced details of the 2007 broadcast schedule which included all 77 games broadcast across the country by partners TSN,

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

or RDS. The year's regular season schedule saw 50 games aired on TSN, which were also carried live on TSN Broadband, 22 games on CBC and a minimum of 16

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

' games on RDS. Coverage of the entire post-season, including the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, Ontario, returned to CBC and RDS in the fall. The 2007 season would be the CBC's final season as a CFL broadcaster for the foreseeable future, as the CFL and TSN began an exclusive deal with the 2008 CFL season. It would also be the last CFL season to be carried on any over-the-air broadcaster for 17 years, as it would not be until

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

that TSN—which had repeatedly renewed its exclusive deal with the CFL multiple times after its initial 5-year term—sub-licensed any CFL content to sister network CTV. TSN's 50-game CFL broadcast schedule became available for the first time ever on multiple TSN distribution platforms. All 50 games aired live on TSN and TSN Broadband, with a minimum of 35 broadcasts produced and televised in High Definition on TSN HD. The majority of HD telecasts aired Friday nights during the 11th season of

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Friday Night Football. TSN's broadcast schedule got underway on June 28 with a season opening double-header featuring BC at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

followed by

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Additional highlights included two Grey Cup rematches featuring

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

vs. BC (Aug. 31 and Sept. 9), the traditional Labour Day Classic Weekend with Winnipeg at Saskatchewan (Sept. 2) and the Hall of Fame Game featuring Winnipeg at Hamilton (Sept. 15). The first of 22 CFL on CBC regular-season games aired on Saturday, June 30 when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats played the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium. CBC's regular-season line-up featured the first-ever CFL on CBC triple-header as well as the traditional double-headers, the Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day Classics.

League Attendance

The CFL's average attendance for 2007 was 29,167, which is the highest average since the 1983 CFL season.

CFL in Ottawa

The Ottawa franchise did not play in the 2007 season. The CFL indicated that there was not enough time for a potential new owner to get the franchise up and running until 2009 at the earliest.

Salary Management System

2007 was the first year the new salary cap and salary management system was enforced. The cap was set at $4.05 million and it demonstrated its successful implementation as six clubs were under the salary expenditure cap while two teams exceeded and were penalized. The Saskatchewan Roughriders were fined, as were the

, who also lost a first round draft pick at the 2008 CFL Canadian Draft.

New Commissioner

On March 12, 2007, Mark Cohon was named the CFL's 12th commissioner. The son of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

of Canada founder George Cohon succeeded Tom Wright. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cohon moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was two years old. Cohon is a graduate of Chicago's

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

with a Bachelor of Science with a major in communication studies and was a business consultant to environmental and youth organizations in Toronto before becoming president and chief executive officer of AudienceView Ticketing, a company which sells ticketing systems and services to sports, arts and entertainment events. In 2006, he was appointed new chair of the Ontario Science Centre. He was appointed to the board of trustees in 2003.

Rule Changes

The "Ricky Williams Rule"

Outgoing CFL commissioner Tom Wright, stated that a rule will be introduced before the start of next season that would prevent a player under suspension in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

from signing with a CFL club. Some columnists dubbed this "The Ricky Williams Rule" because the running back joined the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

after the NFL suspended him for the 2006 season for failing its substance abuse program for the fourth time.

Illegal Movement

This rule will penalize offensive linemen 5 yards for abrupt snap down into 2 or 3 point stance. This rule is aimed at eliminating a tactic by offensive linemen, solely designed to draw the defence offside.

Kick from Scrimmage

On a kick from scrimmage going out of bounds in flight between the 20-yard lines, the receiving team will have the option of taking possession at the point the ball went out of bounds in flight, or having a 10-yard penalty applied against the kicking team at the point of the last scrimmage, with the down repeated. This forces the kicking team on punts and field goal attempts to land the ball in the field of play.

Unnecessary roughness

*Any player in possession of the ball, who falls to the ground without contact and is not attempting to advance the ball, may only be touched down and may not be contacted in any other manner. Players on the ground are in an extremely vulnerable position and should be protected from excessive contact. * Horse-collar tackles will be penalized. *Contact above the shoulders on the long snapper will be penalized.

Roughing the Passer

*Contact below a quarterback's knees will no longer be accepted. *Defensive players may no longer lead with the head or use the head as the primary contact point to hit a passer. Ducking the head and launching at a passer is not acceptable. In the 2006 season, Spergon Wynn was the victim of such a hit at the hands of Scott Schultz. There was no penalty on the play, although Schultz was subsequently fined.

Blocking on Kick Returns

Players on the return team will once again be allowed to block oncoming tacklers from the sides. This was the rule until 2006, when the CFL outlawed blocks on the back of the side, leading to the temporary demise of the kick return touchdown. In 2006, there were only three touchdowns from kick returns, compared to eighteen in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. In addition to fewer touchdowns being scored, shorter kick returns lead to offences having to cover a larger portion of the field to score a touchdown, leading to more field goals and fewer touchdowns. With the long kick returns coming back in 2007, it was expected that games would be higher scoring and more exciting.

Records and Milestones

slotback, Milt Stegall passed Mike Pringle and George Reed for the most career touchdowns with 137 on July 27. By the end of the season he had 144 career touchdowns and, with 14,695 career receiving yards, was trying to pass Allen Pitts all-time league record of 14,891 receiving yards.

slotback, Derrell Mitchell surpassed Paul Masotti as the franchise's all-time leading receiver on July 26. Winnipeg Blue Bombers

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, Charles Roberts passed Leo Lewis to become the franchise's all-time leading rusher on September 2. BC running back, Joe Smith broke former Lion great Cory Philpot's franchise single season rushing record on October 28.

Regular season

''Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points'' ''Teams in bold finished in playoff positions.''

Grey Cup Playoffs

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the 2007 Grey Cup Champions, defeating the

23–19 at Toronto's

. It was the first Grey Cup for the Roughriders since they won it in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, ending an 18-year drought. The Roughriders' James Johnson (DB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Andy Fantuz (SB) was named as the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

CFL Leaders

* CFL Passing Leaders * CFL Rushing Leaders * CFL Receiving Leaders

2007 CFL All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Kerry Joseph, Saskatchewan Roughriders *WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Jason Clermont, BC Lions *WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Geroy Simon, BC Lions *RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *RB – Joe Smith, BC Lions *OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Rob Murphy, BC Lions *OG – Kelly Bates, BC Lions *OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes *C – Jeremy O'Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Defence

*DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts *DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions *DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT – Tyrone Williams, BC Lions *LB – Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts *LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions *DB – Kenny Wheaton, Toronto Argonauts *CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts *CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts *DS – Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts

Special teams

*K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes *ST – Ian Smart, BC Lions

2007 Western All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Kerry Joseph, Saskatchewan Roughriders *WR – Jason Clermont, BC Lions *WR – D.J. Flick, Saskatchewan Roughriders *WR – Nik Lewis, Calgary Stampeders *WR – Geroy Simon, BC Lions *RB – Joffrey Reynolds, Calgary Stampeders *RB – Joe Smith, BC Lions *OT – Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan Roughriders *OT – Rob Murphy, BC Lions *OG – Kelly Bates, BC Lions *OG – Jay McNeil, Calgary Stampeders *C – Jeremy O'Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Defence

*DE – Fred Perry, Saskatchewan Roughriders *DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions *DT – Aaron Hunt, BC Lions *DT – Tyrone Williams, BC Lions *LB – Otis Floyd, BC Lions *LB – Reggie Hunt, Saskatchewan Roughriders *LB – Maurice Lloyd, Saskatchewan Roughriders *DB – Korey Banks, BC Lions *DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions *CB – Lavar Glover, BC Lions *CB – James Johnson, Saskatchewan Roughriders *DS – Barron Miles, BC Lions

Special teams

*K – Sandro DeAngelis, Calgary Stampeders *P – Paul McCallum, BC Lions *ST – Ian Smart, BC Lions

2007 Eastern All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Kevin Glenn, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Ben Cahoon, Montreal Alouettes *WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Milt Stegall, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *RB – Jesse Lumsden, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Alexandre Gauthier, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes *OG – Taylor Robertson, Toronto Argonauts *C – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Defence

*DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts *DE – Tom Canada, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT –

Adriano Belli Adriano Belli (born August 25, 1977) is a Canadian former professional gridiron football, football player who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Belli is nicknamed "The Kissing Bandit" for his penchant for kissing people on thei ...

, Toronto Argonauts *DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *LB – Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts *LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DB – Randee Drew, Montreal Alouettes *DB – Kenny Wheaton, Toronto Argonauts *CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts *CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts *DS – Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts

Special teams

*K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes *ST – Dominique Dorsey, Toronto Argonauts

2007 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Kevin Glenn, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Dan Goodspeed, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Patrick Kabongo, Edmonton Eskimos *OG – Andrew Greene, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes *C – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *RB – Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *FB – Chris Szarka, Saskatchewan Roughriders *SB – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *SB – Milt Stegall, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Derick Armstrong, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Kamau Peterson, Edmonton Eskimos

Defence

*DE – Jonathan Brown, Toronto Argonauts *DE – Cameron Wake, BC Lions *DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT –

, Toronto Argonauts *LB – Barrin Simpson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *LB – Zeke Moreno, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *LB – JoJuan Armour, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *CB – Byron Parker, Toronto Argonauts *CB – Jordan Younger, Toronto Argonauts *HB – Korey Banks, BC Lions *HB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions *S – Barron Miles, BC Lions

Special teams

*K – Nick Setta, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *ST – Dominique Dorsey, Toronto Argonauts *P – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes

Head coach

* Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders

2007 Rogers CFL Awards

* CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Kerry Joseph (QB), Saskatchewan Roughriders * CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Jason Clermont (SB), BC Lions * CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Cameron Wake (DE), BC Lions * CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Rob Murphy (OG), BC Lions * CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Cameron Wake (DE), BC Lions * CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award – Ian Smart (RB), BC Lions * CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Milt Stegall (SB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers * Rogers Fans' Choice Award – Charles Roberts (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers * CFL's Scotiabank Coach of the Year – Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders * Commissioner's Award – Keith Pelley, Toronto * Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award - Bob Ackles, BC Lions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Cfl Season Cfl Season, 2007 Canadian Football League seasons