The 46th

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 ...

was the championship game of the 1958 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 ...

on November 29, 1958. The game was played in Vancouver's Empire Stadium before a crowd of 36,567. 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 ...

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

35–28. This was the first Grey Cup game to be played under the aegis of the newly formed (and present-day)

Game summary

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (35) - TDs, Jim Van Pelt (2), Norm Rauhaus, Charlie Shepard. Cons, Van Pelt (4). FGs, Van Pelt (2), Keith Pearce (79). Single, Shepard. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (28) - TDs, Ron Howell (2),

Ralph Goldston Ralph Peter Goldston (February 25, 1929 – July 9, 2011) was a running back and defensive back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) who played nine seasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He helped the Tiger-Cats to two Grey Cup wins in 1957 and ...

Gerry McDougall Gerald Gordon McDougall (March 21, 1935 – February 9, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the American Football League (AFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1957 through 1967. He was named a CF ...

. Cons, Steve Oneschuk (4). Tiger-Cats head coach

Jim Trimble James William Trimble (May 29, 1918 – May 23, 2006) was an American gridiron football coach who served as head coach in both the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) In the NFL, he spent four years leading the P ...

said before the game that his team would "waffle" the Blue Bombers. Hamilton started well, opening a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Winnipeg had gotten within one point when the Hamilton coach made a controversial call. Instead of downing the ball before half time, coach Trimble elected to punt the ball away on the last play. The punt was blocked, and recovered in the end zone by Bomber Norm Rauhaus to give them a 20-14 half-time lead. "We should have won the 1958 Grey Cup but there was a bad coaching error before halftime," said Hamilton defensive lineman

Angelo Mosca Angelo Valentino Mosca (February 13, 1937 – November 6, 2021) was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a wrestler, Mosca was known by the nick ...

. In the second half, Hamilton came back to tie, but a Hamilton fumble was recovered by Bomber

Gord Rowland Gordon Rowland (September 1, 1930 – October 1, 2018) was a two-sport national champion in soccer and Canadian football. He won the Challenge Trophy in soccer with Montréal Stelco and the Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipe ...

which led to a touchdown by Winnipeg fullback

Charlie Shepard Charles LaFayette Shepard Jr. (July 11, 1933 – June 23, 2009) was an American all-star and Grey Cup champion running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1957 to 1962. A graduate of North Texas State ...

. Hamilton again fought back to take the lead 28-27. Winnipeg quarterback

Jim Van Pelt James Sutton Van Pelt (November 11, 1935 – July 2, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolv ...

scored on a trick play where he pitched the ball to running back Leo Lewis, who passed back to Van Pelt for the touchdown. A Sheppard punt single closed out the scoring.

Video clips

Trivia

Winnipeg racked up 187 passing yards and 247 rushing yards from Shepard,

Kenny Ploen Kenneth Ploen (June 3, 1935 – February 13, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a star quarterback and safety for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Lost Nation, Iowa native played the ...

, Lewis and Van Pelt. Van Pelt scored two touchdowns, four converts and two field goals, a total of 22 points. Winnipeg had not won the

in seventeen years prior to this game. The 1958 Grey Cup game is considered to be one of the ten best Grey Cup games of all time.

References

* * Ed Tait. ''Trimble vowed to 'waffle' Blue'', Bomber Game Day/

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

/Friday, June 2, 2006

External links

Home movie of the 1958 Grey Cup Parade

Boxscore from CFLdb
{{1958 CFL season by team Grey Cup Canadian football competitions in Vancouver

Hamilton Tiger-Cats postseason Winnipeg Blue Bombers postseason 1950s in Vancouver