1981 Edmonton Eskimos season
Encyclopedia
The 1981
Edmonton Eskimos
finished in 1st place in the Western Conference with a 14–1–1 record and won their fourth consecutive Grey Cup
championship after winning the 69th Grey Cup
.
Total attendance: 357,103
Average attendance: 44,638 (103.0%)
1981 CFL season
The 1981 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 28th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 24th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 1981:...
Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
finished in 1st place in the Western Conference with a 14–1–1 record and won their fourth consecutive Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
championship after winning the 69th Grey Cup
69th Grey Cup
The 69th Grey Cup was played on November 22, 1981 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec in front of 52,487 fans. The 1981 Grey Cup game is considered to be one of the ten best Grey Cup games of all time...
.
Schedule
| Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Attendance |
| A | June 5 | Edmonton Eskimos | 12–11 | Calgary Stampeders | 29,292 |
| B | June 10 | Edmonton Eskimos | 25–16 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18,405 |
| C | June 16 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 1–17 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,426 |
| D | June 26 | BC Lions | 2–26 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 |
Season Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Eskimos Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895... |
16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 576 | 277 | 29 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded... |
16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 517 | 299 | 22 |
| BC Lions BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954... |
16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 438 | 377 | 20 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor... |
16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 431 | 371 | 18 |
| Calgary Stampeders Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium... |
16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 306 | 367 | 12 |
Season schedule
| Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Attendance | Record | Pts |
| 1 | July 3 | Edmonton Eskimos | 47–21 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 22,023 | 1–0–0 | 2 |
| 2 | July 11 | Calgary Stampeders | 10–30 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 | 2–0–0 | 4 |
| 3 | July 19 | Edmonton Eskimos | 28–38 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 25,745 | 2–1–0 | 4 |
| 4 | July 26 | Edmonton Eskimos | 33–17 | Montreal Alouettes | 45,385 | 3–1–0 | 6 |
| 5 | Aug 1 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 5–41 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 | 4–1–0 | 8 |
| 6 | Bye | 2–0–0 | 4 | ||||
| 7 | Aug 13 | Edmonton Eskimos | 22–12 | Toronto Argonauts | 38,268 | 5–1–0 | 10 |
| 8 | Aug 22 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 10–28 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 | 6–1–0 | 12 |
| 9 | Aug 30 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 34–44 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 | 7–1–0 | 14 |
| 10 | Sept 7 | Edmonton Eskimos | 34–34 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 30,121 | 7–1–1 | 15 |
| 11 | Sept 13 | BC Lions | 21–38 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43,346 | 8–1–1 | 17 |
| 12 | Sept 19 | Edmonton Eskimos | 21–10 | Calgary Stampeders | 34,657 | 9–1–1 | 19 |
| 13 | Sept 26 | Montreal Alouettes | 11–62 | Edmonton Eskimos | 48,422 | 10–1–1 | 21 |
| 14 | Oct 3 | Edmonton Eskimos | 22–12 | BC Lions | 30,296 | 11–1–1 | 23 |
| 15 | Oct 12 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 6–24 | Edmonton Eskimos | 45,805 | 12–1–1 | 25 |
| 16 | Oct 18 | Edmonton Eskimos | 41–29 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 30,312 | 13–1–1 | 27 |
| 17 | Oct 24 | Toronto Argonauts | 7–61 | Edmonton Eskimos | 46,146 | 14–1–1 | 29 |
| 18 | Bye | 14–1–1 | 29 | ||||
Total attendance: 357,103
Average attendance: 44,638 (103.0%)
Playoffs
| Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance |
| Division Final | Nov 15 | BC Lions | 22–16 | Edmonton Eskimos | 52,861 | |
| Grey Cup | Nov 22 | Edmonton Eskimos | 26–23 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 53,307 |
Grey Cup
| Teams | 1 Q | 2 Q | 3 Q | 4 Q | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Eskimos | 0 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 26 |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 13 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
Awards and honours
- CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player AwardCFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player AwardThe Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award is annually rewarded to the best defensive player in the Canadian Football League. This is the third-last award to be given during the CFL Awards banquet, which takes place the week before Grey Cup weekend in the same city where it is hosted...
– Danny KepleyDanny KepleyDaniel "Danny" Kepley, is a former star linebacker with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.Kepley played his college football at East Carolina University...
(LB) - Dick Suderman Trophy – Neil LumsdenNeil LumsdenNeil Lumsden is a former Canadian Football League player who played mostly as a fullback and also as a running back for the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Edmonton Eskimos from 1976 to 1985....
- Norm Fieldgate TrophyNorm Fieldgate TrophyThe Norm Fieldgate Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, awarded to the outstanding defensive player in the West Division. Each team in the West division nominates a player, from which the winner is chosen. Either the winner of this trophy or the winner of the James P. McCaffrey Trophy will...
– Danny Kepley