CFL News

TORONTO _ Here's some simple advice for CFL fans trying to figure out the league's muddled playoff picture heading into the final third of the regular season. Don't bother. Seven of the CFL's eight teams remain in serious playoff contention, with six being separated by just five points. What's more, the club not expected to make the post-season _ the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-10) _ showed with last weekend's win over Calgary it's more than capable of being a ...

EDMONTON (CP) _ The Edmonton Eskimos signed import offensive lineman Damion Cook on Tuesday. The six-foot-four, 325-pounder spent last season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, starting 10 games. Cook, 28, signed as an undrafted free agent out of college with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. They moved him from defensive line to offensive line during training camp. He also spent time in the NFL with Baltimore, Chicago, Miami and Cleveland.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (CP) _ Offensive lineman Mike Pearson, a five-year NFL veteran, signed with the Toronto Argonauts on Tuesday. The CFL club also released defensive back Toby Atawo and defensive linemen Corey Jackson and Darrell Lee. The six-foot-seven, 290-pound Pearson was a second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002. He started 31 games for the NFL club before suffering a knee injury and spent part of last season with the Miami Dolphins.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (CP) _ The Toronto Argonauts added veteran savvy to their defensive secondary by signing veteran NFL safety Tony Dorsett Jr. on Friday. The five-foot-11, 205-pound Dorsett is the son of former NFL star Tony Dorsett. The younger Dorsett spent eight seasons in the NFL before leaving football in 2004 to grow his commercial and residential development business. Tony Dorsett Jr., 33, played for both the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders from 1996 to 2003, appearing in ...

TORONTO (CP) _ The Toronto Argonauts are giving running back Andre Durie a second chance. Durie began the 2005 CIS season with the York Lions as a can't-miss CFL prospect. The year before, he set school records for rushing yards in a season (1,367), scoring (96 points) and rushing TDs (15). In 2003, he ran for an OUA-record 349 yards in a game versus Ottawa. But Durie's pro aspirations _ ...

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed import kicker Nick Setta on Tuesday and expect him to challenge incumbent Jamie Boreham. Setta, a 25-year-old from Lockport, Ill., completed 46-of-66 field-goal attempts during a four-year collegiate career at Notre Dame. Setta also handled the punting duties in his final year. ``Nick is capable of handling all kicking duties _ field goals, punting and kickoffs _ at a very high level,'' general manager Marcel Desjardins ...

The Montreal Alouettes hope that Marcel Bellefeuille will revive their once-powerful running game. The Alouettes named Bellefeuille offensive co-ordinator on Wednesday, looking to improve a running game that has been almost an afterthought since the heyday of former tailback Mike Pringle from 1996 to 2001. Bellefeuille directed the CFL's best ground attack in his three years as offensive co-ordinator of the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2003 to 2005. He joined Montreal ...

The Montreal Alouettes say only financing remains to be settled before construction can begin on the expansion of Percival Molson Stadium, the CFL's smallest venue. The CFL club said it cleared a major hurdle Tuesday night when opponents of the proposed expansion failed to get enough signatures to force a referendum. The team hopes to have financing in place for construction to begin next year and for work to be ...

The Montreal Alouettes announced Monday that the club has signed 22 players to new contracts, including receivers Ben Cahoon, Kerry Watkins and guard Scott Flory. The signings were all made before the midnight deadline, when the CFL's new salary management system comes into effect. Ten of those 22 players would have become free agents after the 2006 season. Cahoon, linebacker Kai Ellis, fullback Mike Vilimek, rush end John Bowman, long ...

Paul McCallum's sterling Grey Cup performance has accomplished two things _ put him in the record books and wiped away the memories of a bitter loss in 2004. McCallum nailed all six of his field-goal attempts as the B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 25-14 Sunday night, earning the Surrey, B.C., native top Canadian player in the game honours. It also allowed him to tie Don Sweet, Sean Fleming and ...

Rating the two teams in the B.C. Lions' 25-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes in the 94th Grey Cup: MONTREAL ALOUETTES OFFENCE: D. Only a solid second-half comeback prevented a failing grade here. Then again, after registering just four first downs and 105 total yards in the first half there was nowhere to go but up. DEFENCE: C-plus. The Alouettes surrendered nearly 250 first-half yards to the Lions' offence, but ...

The B.C. Lions' 25-14 Grey Cup win Sunday capped quite a week for defensive end Brent Johnson. On Thursday, the six-foot-three, 265-pound Johnson was named the CFL's outstanding defensive player and Canadian after registering 16 sacks to lead the league in that category for the second straight year. Johnson became the first player in league history to win both honours in the same year. The 29-year-old native of Kingston, Ont., ...

The Grey Cup has long history of abuse, neglect and damage. And Wally Buono, whose B.C. Lions broke the historic trophy Sunday while celebrating their 25-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes, is not a first time offender. In 1998 when he was coach of the Calgary Stampeders, his team claimed the CFL championship trophy with a wild 26-24 win over Hamilton. Then Stampeders nearly left Winnipeg without the hallowed Cup, ...

It's hard to find the right for label the Montreal Alouettes. Over the past seven years they've played in the Grey Cup five times, a run impressive enough to usually earn a team the coveted dynasty tag. But with just one win and four losses to show for it, including Sunday's 25-14 defeat to the B.C. Lions, it's hard to find any description other than frustrated that fits this club. ...

When Anthony Calvillo broke into the CFL in 1994 with the defunct Las Vegas Posse, he did not look like a quarterback who would play in five Grey Cup games. Neither did he look like all-star material while throwing 45 interceptions over the next three seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But there was enough there for general manager Jim Popp to decide that Calvillo may have what it takes to succeed Tracy Ham as quarterback of the Montreal ...

The Grey Cup game has become a worldwide event _ at least on television. Broadcasts of the 94th Grey Cup game between the Montreal Alouettes and B.C. Lions will have unprecedented reach _ from the United States, Europe and Latin America to the Middle East, the South Pacific and Africa. Trajectory Sports and Media Group, the league's international broadcast distribution partner, has ``taken the Grey Cup's global exposure to new ...

It's easy to see how the B.C. Lions are heavy favourites to capture this year's Grey Cup title. Look at the club's offence, defence and special teams, and the common denominator is the Lions are stacked with athletes. Offensively, there's the grace of slotback Geroy Simon, a fluid route runner who was the CFL's top receiver this year with 105 catches, 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns. Or there's the ruggedness ...

They are no longer the blitz-happy crew of recent years but the Alouettes defensive line remains one of Montreal's sources of strength heading into the Grey Cup game. Anchored by nasty 36-year-old tackle Ed Philion, the line will face its toughest test of the season when the Alouettes meet the high-powered B.C. Lions' attack in the CFL championship game at Canad Inns Stadium on Sunday (CBC, 6 p.m. ET). The ...

Jake Ireland will be the head referee for this year's Grey Cup game, the CFL announced Thursday night. It will be the 13th career Grey Cup appearance for Ireland and 11th as the head referee. But it will be his first CFL title game since 2001. ``I'm thrilled to be back,'' Ireland said. ``That was my objective.'' Ireland, a native of Burlington, Ont., now living in Townsend, Ont., has been ...

Defensive lineman Aaron Hunt, who had nine sacks this year for the B.C. Lions, was named the CFL's rookie of the year Thursday night. The six-foot-three, 270-pound Hunt also contributed 14 tackles and a forced fumble with the Lions this season. The Texas Tech grad was a former sixth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2003. Defensive back Etienne Boulay, a five-foot-nine, 187-pound Montreal native who was the Alouettes' second-round ...

Calgary Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis, who led the CFL in scoring and field goals, was named the league's top special-teams player Thursday night. DeAngelis was a deserving recipient of the John Agro award. The second-year player from Niagara Falls, Ont., booted a club-record 56 field goals (three short of the league record) and finished as the league's scoring leader with 214 points. Noel Prefontaine, the Toronto Argonauts veteran kicker-punter, was ...

Rob Murphy, in his first CFL season with the B.C. Lions, was named the league's top lineman Thursday night. The six-foot-five, 310-pound Murphy helped the Lions' offence become one of the league's most prolific. This year, B.C. led the CFL in passing, averaging 292 yards per game, and receiver Geroy Simon was the league's top receiver with 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns. B.C. also led the CFL ...

Another year, another CFL top Canadian award for B.C. Lions defensive lineman Brent Johnson. The six-foot-three, 265-pound Johnson registered 16 sacks to lead the CFL in that category for the second straight year. The native of Kingston, Ont., helped anchor a B.C. defence that finished first in fewest yards allowed (299 per game) and sacks (59) and second to Toronto in points allowed (18.9 compared to 18.5 for the Argos). ...

B.C. Lions slotback Geroy Simon, who led the CFL in receiving this season, was named the league's outstanding player on Thursday night. Simon had 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns this year to capture the award in voting conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada. Simon and the Lions will face the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday (CBC, 6 p.m. ET). Running back Charles Roberts ...

The dismal collapse of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Sunday's CFL West Final more than just dashed the Grey Cup hopes of the team's legions of fans, it also made the goal of a sellout for this weekend's championship game a little more elusive. ``We probably wouldn't have had enough seats if Saskatchewan got in,'' Lyle Bauer, president and chief executive of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, said Monday. Before the start ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Danny Barrett waxed philosophically when asked Monday about his future. ``I feel good about my future,'' Barrett told reporters, a wide, toothy smile shooting across his face. ``I'm alive, I'm breathing, I've got a beautiful family. Future looks good.'' Asked whether his future includes the CFL team he has led for the last seven years and he's a little less sunny. ``I would say 50-50,'' Barrett ...

The Toronto Argonauts have come down on receiver Arland Bruce III for accusing CFL officials of being racist and taking bribes following the club's loss to Montreal on Sunday in the East Division final. The Argos issued a statement Monday evening, stating they had fined Bruce an unspecified amount for his comments and emphasizing that the opinions expressed by Bruce are not shared by the CFL club. The move came ...

He arrived amid much fanfare and hoopla but left quietly with no tearful farewell, no emotional good-bye. Ricky Williams spent his final day as a Toronto Argonaut on Monday attending a season-ending meeting, then cleaning out his locker at the team's practice facility. And in his final impromptu media gathering, the 29-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner remained true to the living-in-the-moment form he preached from the day he arrived here ...

As a team that has won only two Grey Cups in franchise history, it's safe to say that the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their fans have experienced more than their fair share of playoff head-hangers. While the 30-14 loss to Montreal in the 2005 CFL Eastern semifinal is on the list, the most raw in recent years was the 27-25 defeat to the B.C. Lions in the 2004 Western final. After ...

The second time was indeed the charm for Jason Gavadza and the Toronto Argonauts. Prior to the start of the season, the Argos made an inquiry to Gavadza about joining the CFL club. But after being released in the off-season by the B.C. Lions, the six-foot-three, 249-pound tight end-fullback opted against continuing his pro football career, instead deciding to concentrate full-time on a budding real estate career as well as ...