| 1990 CFL season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | July 12 – November 4, 1990 |
| East champions | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| West champions | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 78th Grey Cup | |
| Date | November 25, 1990 |
| Venue | BC Place Stadium, Vancouver |
| Champions | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
The 1990 CFL season is considered to be the 37th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 33rd Canadian Football League season.
CFL News in 1990
J. Donald Crump was appointed as the eighth CFL Commissioner on Friday, January 5.
The CFL Annual Meetings-Canadian College Draft was held in Hamilton for the third straight year.
The CFL increased roster limit to 37 players to include 20 non-imports, 14 imports and 3 quarterbacks with the reserve list remaining at two players.
The Toronto Argonauts and the BC Lions set a record for most points in a game when they scored 111 points on Saturday, September 1 at the SkyDome. The Argonauts won the game 68–43.
The BC Lions added silver to its team colour scheme. In addition, Vancouver played host to the Grey Cup game for the 11th time, and for the fourth time at BC Place.
Citing multi-million dollar losses, the league-run Canadian Football Network syndication service ceased operations after this season; it had replaced CTV's CFL coverage in 1987.
Regular season standings
Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 588 | 566 | 23 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 612 | 510 | 20 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 557 | 592 | 18 |
| BC Lions | 18 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 520 | 620 | 13 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 472 | 398 | 7–3 | W1 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 689 | 538 | 6–4 | W1 | Details |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 540 | 602 | 3–7 | L1 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 476 | 628 | 4–6 | L3 | Details |
- Bold text means that they made the playoffs.
- Calgary and Winnipeg had first round byes.
Grey Cup playoffs
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the 1990 Grey Cup champions, humiliating the Edmonton Eskimos 50–11, at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. The Blue Bombers' Tom Burgess (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Offence and Greg Battle (LB) was named Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Defence, while Warren Hudson (FB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.
Playoff bracket
| November 11: Division Semifinals | November 18: Division Finals | November 25: 78th Grey Cup @ BC Place Stadium – Vancouver, BC | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 17 | ||||||||||||
| East | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 20 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 25 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 34 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 50 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 11 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43 | ||||||||||||
| West | ||||||||||||||
| W1 | Calgary Stampeders | 23 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 27 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 43 | ||||||||||||
CFL Leaders
1990 CFL All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- FB – Blake Marshall, Edmonton Eskimos
- RB – Robert Mimbs, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- SB – Darrell Smith, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Craig Ellis, Edmonton Eskimos
- WR – Stephen Jones, Ottawa Rough Riders
- WR – Don Narcisse, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- C – Rod Connop, Edmonton Eskimos
- OG – Dan Ferrone, Toronto Argonauts
- OG – Roger Aldag, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OT – Jim Mills, BC Lions
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Defence
- DT – Kent Warnock, Calgary Stampeders
- DT – Harold Hallman, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – Stewart Hill, Edmonton Eskimos
- DE – Greg Stumon, Ottawa Rough Riders
- LB – Danny Bass, Edmonton Eskimos
- LB – Willie Pless, BC Lions
- LB – Greg Battle, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – Less Browne, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – Rod Hill, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- DB – Troy Wilson, Ottawa Rough Riders
- DB – Don Wilson, Toronto Argonauts
- DS – Greg Peterson, Calgary Stampeders
Special teams
- P – Bob Cameron, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- K – Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- ST – Mike "Pinball" Clemons, Toronto Argonauts
1990 Eastern All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Tom Burgess, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- FB – Warren Hudson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- RB – Robert Mimbs, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- SB – Darrell Smith, Toronto Argonauts
- SB – Rick House, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- WR – Stephen Jones, Ottawa Rough Riders
- WR – Earl Winfield, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- C – Lyle Bauer, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- OG – Dan Ferrone, Toronto Argonauts
- OG – Gerald Roper, Ottawa Rough Riders
- OT – Rob Smith, Ottawa Rough Riders
- OT – Chris Walby, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Defence
- DT – Lloyd Lewis, Ottawa Rough Riders
- DT – Harold Hallman, Toronto Argonauts
- DE – Grover Covington, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- DE – Greg Stumon, Ottawa Rough Riders
- LB – Tyrone Jones, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- LB – Bruce Holmes, Ottawa Rough Riders
- LB – Greg Battle, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – Less Browne, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CB – Rod Hill, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- DB – Troy Wilson, Ottawa Rough Riders
- DB – Don Wilson, Toronto Argonauts
- S – Scott Flagel, Ottawa Rough Riders
Special teams
- P – Bob Cameron, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- K – Paul Osbaldiston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- ST – Mike "Pinball" Clemons, Toronto Argonauts
1990 Western All-Stars
Offence
- QB – Kent Austin, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- FB – Blake Marshall, Edmonton Eskimos
- RB – Reggie Taylor, Edmonton Eskimos
- SB – Ray Elgaard, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- SB – Craig Ellis, Edmonton Eskimos
- WR – Ray Alexander, BC Lions
- WR – Don Narcisse, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- C – Rod Connop, Edmonton Eskimos
- OG – Leo Blanchard, Calgary Stampeders
- OG – Roger Aldag, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- OT – Jim Mills, BC Lions
- OT – Lloyd Fairbanks, Calgary Stampeders
Defence
- DT – Kent Warnock, Calgary Stampeders
- DT – Brett Williams, Edmonton Eskimos
- DE – Stewart Hill, Edmonton Eskimos
- DE – Will Johnson, Calgary Stampeders
- LB – Danny Bass, Edmonton Eskimos
- LB – Willie Pless, BC Lions
- LB – Dan Rashovich, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- CB – Andre Francis, Edmonton Eskimos
- CB – Keith Gooch, Edmonton Eskimos
- DB – Richie Hall, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- DB – David McCrary, Calgary Stampeders
- DS – Greg Peterson, Calgary Stampeders
Special teams
- P – Brent Matich, Calgary Stampeders
- K – Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- ST – Derrick Crawford, Calgary Stampeders
1990 CFL Awards
- CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Mike "Pinball" Clemons (RB), Toronto Argonauts
- CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Ray Elgaard (SB), Saskatchewan Roughriders
- CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Battle (LB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Jim Mills (OT), BC Lions
- CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Reggie Barnes (RB), Ottawa Rough Riders
- CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award – Richie Hall (DB), Saskatchewan Roughriders
- CFL's Coach of the Year – Mike Riley, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Commissioner's Award - Gregory B. Fulton, Toronto