The 2010 CFL season is the 57th 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 ...

. Officially, it is the 53rd

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 ...

season.

Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multi-purpose stadium located in the McCauley, Edmonton, McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily ...

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 ...

hosted the

98th Grey Cup The 98th Grey Cup was a Canadian football game played between the East Division champion Montreal Alouettes and West Division champion Saskatchewan Roughriders to decide the champion of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the 2010 season. ...

on November 28 when the

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 ...

became the first team to repeat as

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 ...

Champions in 13 years, defeating 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 19 ...

, 21–18. The league announced on its Twitter page on January 29, 2010, that the season would start on July 1, 2010. As of 2024 this is the most recent CFL regular season to start in July.

CFL news in 2010

CFL retro

As the league approaches the 100th Grey Cup, the CFL celebrated the 1970s with all eight teams wearing retro-themed uniforms from that era during Weeks 6 and 7. Since Saskatchewan's alternate jersey is a version of the 1970s home jersey, they were the only team to wear both home and away retro jerseys during these games. Additionally, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the

, the players donned red and black centennial jerseys that the team wore from 1912 to 1947 on July 17 when they played Edmonton at

Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field Taylor Field, known in its latter years as Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, was an open-air stadium located in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Rough ...

in Regina.

Debut of the Moncton series

The CFL began a series of annual games in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, during the 2010 season. The first game, marketed under the " Touchdown Atlantic" banner, took place on September 26, as the Edmonton Eskimos defeated 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 ...

, 24–6, in front of a sold out crowd of 20,725 at the new

Moncton Stadium Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium (), formerly Moncton Stadium (), is a track and field stadium on the campus of the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, built to host the IAAF 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics. The $17&n ...

. Tickets for the game sold out within 32 hours of going on sale. The success of Touchdown Atlantic 2010 has moved

towards a position of candidate for CFL expansion.

Labour agreement

The

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

between the CFL and the CFL Players' Association expires on June 5, 2010. Negotiations between the two parties have been stalled since October 2009; a meeting is scheduled on April 26, 2010, in Toronto. Stu Laird, president of the CFLPA, has sent e-mails to all players. According to Canwest News Service, the e-mails advise the players to remain unified and "It continues to be the opinion of the executive committee that a CFL management lockout of the players is a very real possibility." On June 29, 2010, two days before the start of the regular season, it was announced that the CFL and CFLPA had agreed to a new 4-year CBA, set to expire before the 2014 CFL season. While many changes were made, the most prominent were those made to the salaries and the introduction of a drug policy. The 2010 team

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

is set at $4,250,000 with a team salary floor of $3,900,000 and a minimum player salary of $42,000. The salary cap is set to increase $50,000 per season, reaching $4,400,000 by 2013, with the floor being $4,000,000 by that time. The minimum player salary is set to increase by $1000 per season until 2013 where it would be $45,000.

Rule changes

Like in the 2009 CFL season, another fan contest on what rule changes the fans wanted to see was done, this time the fans were asked by Commissioner Mark Cohon to focus on what changes could be made to the overtime format to improve it. While a complete overhaul of the format such as going to a "mini game" of playing two 5 minute no quarter halves or eliminating over time in the regular season, fans endorsed the current overtime format with one significant change. The four rules changes for the season approved by the rules committee, including a change to overtime the fans call on in the contest, are as follows: Changes to overtime * Teams that score a touchdown in overtime must go for a two-point convert by running or passing the ball into the end zone instead of kicking for a single point. A similar rule is used in United States intercollegiate football, where a similar overtime is used, starting with the third overtime session (overtime sessions are unlimited). This rule has been experimented in other football leagues like the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

and the XFL. Changes in regulation * Will allow a team that gives up a field goal the option of scrimmaging from its 35-yard line instead of receiving a kick-off. In 2009, this option was eliminated, but has been overturned as it failed to make any significant difference in entertainment value as it was intended, and was unpopular with the coaches. * Will ensure there is no penalty for pass interference applied if a forward pass is deemed uncatchable. * Fixing the no yards or halo rule that will result in a penalty of five instead of fifteen yards when a ball is punted, hits the ground and hits a player from the covering team.

Broadcasting

TSN remains the exclusive broadcaster for all CFL games in Canada. In the United States, the CFL ended its longstanding agreement with

America One America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary.

and signed a more limited deal with

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

, which will air 14 games for the season (as opposed to the roughly 70 games per year carried by America One). As with America One, NFL Network will simulcast the TSN broadcast. RDS remains the exclusive French broadcaster of the CFL showing all 18

regular season games and all of the CFL Playoffs.

Records and milestones

*On October 11, 2010, Ben Cahoon became the CFL's all-time reception leader, catching his 1,007th career pass from

Anthony Calvillo Anthony Calvillo (born August 23, 1972) is an American professional Canadian football, football coach and former quarterback who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football Lea ...

in a home game against the

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

. *November 7, 2010, saw the first time that a regular season

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

home game at

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 ...

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 ...

had been played during the regular CFL season; the Bills against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

kicked off at 1:00 pm, while the

kicked off their final regular season game at the

at 4:00 pm.

Regular season

''Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points'' ''Teams in bold are currently in playoff positions.'' Hamilton finished ahead of Toronto in the standings because they won their head-to-head regular season series 3–0.

Award winners

CFL Player of the Week

''Source''

CFL Player of the Month

''Source''

CFL playoffs

The

became the first team to repeat as

Champions in 13 years, defeating the

, 21–18 at

. Alouettes' wide receiver Jamel Richardson was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, and Roughriders' defensive tackle, Keith Shologan was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

*-Team won in Double Overtime.

CFL Leaders

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

2010 CFL All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Henry Burris, Calgary Stampeders *RB – Cory Boyd, Toronto Argonauts *RB – Fred Reid, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Arland Bruce III, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *SB – Andy Fantuz, Saskatchewan Roughriders *SB – Nik Lewis, Calgary Stampeders *WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OT – Ben Archibald, Calgary Stampeders *OT – Rob Murphy, Toronto Argonauts *OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes *OG – Dimitri Tsoumpas, Calgary Stampeders *OC – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Defence

*DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT – Kevin Huntley, Toronto Argonauts *DE – Phillip Hunt, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DE – John Bowman, Montreal Alouettes *LB –

Chip Cox Chip Cox (born June 24, 1983) is an American former professional Canadian football, football linebacker who played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for 13 seasons. He is a two-time Grey Cup champion, winning in 97t ...

, Montreal Alouettes *LB – Markeith Knowlton, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *LB – Juwan Simpson, Calgary Stampeders *CB – Dwight Anderson, Calgary Stampeders *CB – Brandon Browner, Calgary Stampeders *DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions *DB – Chris Thompson, Edmonton Eskimos *S – James Patrick, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Special teams

*K – Paul McCallum, BC Lions *P – Burke Dales, Calgary Stampeders *ST – Chad Owens, Toronto Argonauts

2010 CFL Western All-Stars

Offence

*QB – Henry Burris, Calgary Stampeders *RB – Wes Cates, Saskatchewan Roughriders *RB – Joffrey Reynolds, Calgary Stampeders *WR – Romby Bryant, Calgary Stampeders *SB – Andy Fantuz, Saskatchewan Roughriders *SB – Nik Lewis, Calgary Stampeders *WR – Fred Stamps, Edmonton Eskimos *OT – Ben Archibald, Calgary Stampeders *OT – Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan Roughriders *OG – Jovan Olafioye, BC Lions *OG – Dimitri Tsoumpas, Calgary Stampeders *OC – Jeremy O'Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Defence

*DT – DeVone Claybrooks, Calgary Stampeders *DT – Tom Johnson, Calgary Stampeders *DE – Charleston Hughes, Calgary Stampeders *DE – Brent Johnson, BC Lions *LB – Korey Banks, BC Lions *LB – Barrin Simpson, Saskatchewan Roughriders *LB – Juwan Simpson, Calgary Stampeders *CB – Dwight Anderson, Calgary Stampeders *CB – Brandon Browner, Calgary Stampeders *DB – Ryan Phillips, BC Lions *DB – Chris Thompson, Edmonton Eskimos *S – James Patrick, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Special teams

*K – Paul McCallum, BC Lions *P – Burke Dales, Calgary Stampeders *ST – Yonus Davis, BC Lions

2010 CFL Eastern All-Stars

Offence

*QB –

, Montreal Alouettes *RB – Cory Boyd, Toronto Argonauts *RB – Fred Reid, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Arland Bruce III, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *WR – Terrence Edwards, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *WR – Jamel Richardson, Montreal Alouettes *WR – Dave Stala, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *OT – Josh Bourke, Montreal Alouettes *OT – Rob Murphy, Toronto Argonauts *OG – Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes *OG –

Brendon LaBatte Brendon LaBatte (born September 12, 1986) is a Canadian former professional Canadian football, football Guard (American football), guard. He was drafted sixth overall by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2008 CFL Draft. He played CIS Football with ...

, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *OC – Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Defence

*DT – Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT – Kevin Huntley, Toronto Argonauts *DE – John Bowman, Montreal Alouettes *DE – Phillip Hunt, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *LB –

, Montreal Alouettes *LB – Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts *LB – Markeith Knowlton, Hamilton Tiger-Cats *CB – Mark Estelle, Montreal Alouettes *CB – Jovon Johnson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DB – Jerald Brown, Montreal Alouettes *DB – Lin-J Shell, Toronto Argonauts *S – Willie Pile, Toronto Argonauts

Special teams

*K – Damon Duval, Montreal Alouettes *P – Mike Renaud, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *ST – Chad Owens, Toronto Argonauts

2010 CFLPA Pro Player All-Stars

Offence

*QB:

, Montreal Alouettes *OT: Ben Archibald, Calgary Stampeders *OT: Dan Goodspeed, Saskatchewan Roughriders *OG: Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, Toronto Argonauts *OG: Patrick Kabongo, Edmonton Eskimos *C: Marwan Hage, Hamilton Tiger Cats *RB: Cory Boyd, Toronto Argonauts *RB: Fred Reid, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *SB: Arland Bruce III, Hamilton Tiger Cats *SB: Fred Stamps, Edmonton Eskimos *WR: Romby Bryant. Calgary Stampeders *WR: Jamal Richardson, Montreal Alouettes

Defence

*DE: Phillip Hunt, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DE: Odell Willis, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT: Doug Brown, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *DT: Dario Romero, Edmonton Eskimos *LB:

, Montreal Alouettes *LB: Barrin Simpson, Saskatchewan Roughriders *LB: Solomon Elimimian, BC Lions *CB: Brandon Browner, Calgary Stampeders *CB: Dwight Anderson Calgary Stampeders *HB: Korey Banks, BC Lions *HB: Chris Thompson, Edmonton Eskimos *S: James Patrick, Saskatchewan Roughriders

Special teams

*PK: Paul McCallum, BC Lions *KR/PR: Chad Owens, Toronto Argonauts *P: Burke Dales, Calgary Stampeders

Head coach

*HC: Jim Barker, Toronto Argonauts ''Source''

2010 Gibson's Finest CFL Awards

* CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Henry Burris (QB),

* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Andy Fantuz (SB),

* CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Markeith Knowlton (DB),

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 ...

* CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Ben Archibald (OT),

* CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Solomon Elimimian (LB),

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

* John Agro Special Teams Award – Chad Owens (WR),

* Tom Pate Memorial Award – Wes Lysack (DB),

* Jake Gaudaur Veterans' Trophy – Mike McCullough (LB),

* Annis Stukus Trophy – Jim Barker,

* Commissioner's Award – Rider Nation (The award was given to the entire Rider fan base; it is usually only given to an individual). * Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award - Tony Proudfoot, Montreal Alouettes

References

{{Authority control Canadian Football League seasons Cfl Season, 2010