Baltimore Stallions

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Baltimore Stallions
League Canadian Football League
Division East Division/South Division
Founded 1994
Moved 1995
Home field Memorial Stadium
Based in Baltimore, Maryland
Colours Royal Blue, Silver, Black and White
Owner(s) Jim Speros
Head Coach Don Matthews

The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons. They were the most successful American team in the Canadian Football League having two winning seasons, a division title and became the first and only American team to win the Grey Cup in 1995.

Contents

[edit] Team Facts

  • Helmet design: Silver background with a blue "Stallion like-spirit" with flying stars.
  • Uniform colours: Royal Blue, Silver, Black, and White.
  • Home stadium: Memorial Stadium (1994-1995).
  • Southern regular season championship: 1995.
  • Grey Cup appearances: 2 — 1994 (lost), 1995 (won).
  • 1994 Regular Season Record: 12 wins, 6 losses, 0 ties.
  • 1995 Regular Season Record: 15 wins, 3 losses, 0 ties.
  • Playoff Record: 5 wins, 1 loss.

[edit] Brief History

[edit] On The Field

[edit] 1994 season

Owner Jim Speros' approach was simple, he knew that the Canadian game was different from the American version where he found and eventually hired personnel and players with CFL experience. Speros chose and hired Jim Popp as general manager and then hired the legendary, Don Matthews as the head coach. After getting the job, Popp and Matthews brought in experienced players like QB Tracy Ham, RB Mike Pringle, LB O.J. Brigance, DT Jearld Bayliss, DE Elfrid Payton and former NFL veteran K Donald Igwebuike. However, the franchise were known as the "team without a name," since they started out to be known (unofficially) as the Baltimore CFL Colts, until the NFL sued them over the use of the name. After the lawsuit (which NFL won), the Baltimore franchise was known as the Baltimore CFLers in 1994.

Even though they lacked an official name, the Baltimore franchise finished second in the CFL East Division with a 12-6 regular season record, which became a CFL record for the most wins by an expansion team, which still stands today. In addition, the team was ranked third in team scoring and ranked second in team defence. Furthermore, 27-year old running back, Mike Pringle was the leading rusher with a record 1,972 yards and thirteen touchdowns, narrowly missing becoming the first running back to reach 2,000 yards in the CFL. Pringle also returned 38 kicks for 814 yards, which made him a CFL All-Star, Eastern All-Star and a Terry Evanshen Trophy winner.

In the playoffs the Baltimore franchise hosted the Toronto Argonauts in the East semi-finals at Memorial Stadium and won the game, 34-15. After the semi-final game, Baltimore ended up defeating the favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium 14-12, to become the first American and expansion team to make it to the Grey Cup game. In their first two playoff games, Mike Pringle would rush for 165 yards going into the Grey Cup game.

In the Grey Cup game, Baltimore were against the hometown B.C. Lions at BC Place Stadium. Baltimore had the upper hand against the Lions, leading 17-10 at half-time and silencing the Lions' faithful. However, the Lions would make a comeback to win the Grey Cup by a score of 26-23, on a last-second Lui Passaglia field-goal. One of the key differences in the game was that the Lions' defence limited Pringle to 71 yards rushing in the game. The only successful outcome to happen for Baltimore after the game was that CB Karl Anthony, became the first player on a losing team to be awarded the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player.

[edit] 1994 Accomplishments

After the season, the Baltimore team's players received many awards and accomplishments in the CFL, which are:

Divisional Awards

CFL Awards

1994 Eastern All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special Teams

1994 CFL All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special Teams

[edit] 1995 season

After the 1994 season, a name-the-team fan poll was held to decide a new team name. After the team's first week of the season being known as the Baltimore Football Club, the fan poll ended and Jim Speros announced to the Baltimore faithful that their team will be known as the Baltimore Stallions. Situations also changed for the Stallions when the CFL decided to expand teams in Memphis and Birmingham. In addition, their expansion cousins the Las Vegas Posse folded, while Sacramento relocated to San Antonio. No matter the situation, the CFL decided that with five U.S. teams (including financially challenged Shreveport Pirates) in their league, they thought it was appropriate to re-align their two divisions and placed all the U.S. teams in the newly-named South Division, while the rest of the Canadian teams were in the North Division. With the changes to their name and to the league environment around them, the Baltimore Stallions returned with virtually the same roster with the exception of signing former Posse kicker Carlos Huerta to replace Donald Igwebuike, who moved on to play with Memphis. By keeping the same players from the '94 season, optimism and Grey Cup expectations was high for the Baltimore Stallions. As expected, optimism became reality as Baltimore continued their on-field dominance from last season by finishing the season with a 15-3 regular season record, finishing first in the South Division and tying for the best record in the league with Calgary. Quarterback, Tracy Ham formed a more lethal combination with Mike Pringle and Robert Drummond as the most potent backfield in the CFL. Chris Armstrong became the team's top receiver and the defence continued dominating opponents by allowing only 369 points-against, ranking the squad third in team defence. Mike Pringle, had a slight drop-off to his '94 numbers by rushing 1,791 yards, while his yards-per-carry fell to 5.8 from 6.4 in '94. However, Pringle's statistics were still the best compared to most running backs in the league that year as he was named CFL's Most Outstanding Player and he would rise to the occasion in the playoffs.

After rolling over Winnipeg 36-21, in the divisional semi-final, Don Matthews and his team easily handled the San Antonio Texans in the Southern final winning the game 21-11, to advance to the Grey Cup for the second straight season. The Stallions were headed to Regina's Taylor Field to face the 15-3 North Division champion, Calgary Stampeders who were led by coach Wally Buono, QB Doug Flutie and his two top receivers, Allen Pitts and Dave Sapunjis. During the Grey Cup game, the winds at Taylor Field were particularly strong and gusted up to 85 km/h, however that would not slow down the Stallions as they opened the game with a Chris Wright touchdown who returned a punt for a new Grey Cup record of 82-yards just 2:20 into the game. After Calgary responded scoring the next 13 points, to take a 13-7 lead. Baltimore responded with four consecutive scores including three Carlos Huerta field goals against the wind, the longest from 45 yards. Furthermore, O.J. Brigance blocked a Calgary punt with just under eight minutes to go in the half which was scooped up by Alvin Walton at the five and he dove over for their lone touchdown. In the third quarter after a Baltimore single, Flutie managed to score a touchdown on a one-yard plunge, but it was the last scoring for Calgary, as the Stallions defence managed to shut down the league's top-ranked offence. Stallions quarterback Tracy Ham responded by throwing 213 yards with a touchdown of his own, while Huerta kicked two more field goals to round out Baltimore's scoring as they dominated the Stampeders for a 37-20, victory to become the first American team to win the Grey Cup. To top it off, Pringle was a playoff workhorse, as he ran for 484 playoff yards and four touchdowns in all three playoff games. After the game, Tracy Ham became the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player. However, celebrations for the franchise was short-lived after their Grey Cup triumph.

[edit] 1995 Accomplishments

After the season, other Baltimore Stallions' received awards and accomplishments in the CFL, which are:

Divisional Awards

CFL Awards

1995 Southern All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special Teams

1995 CFL All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special Teams

[edit] Off The Field

On the marketing side to sell season tickets, Speros took advantage of the anti-NFL sentiment in Baltimore after the Colts had moved to Indianapolis in March 1984 naming the team the Baltimore CFL Colts. The NFL fought the naming of the team and ultimately won and the team for 1994 was known as the Baltimore CFLers, in 1995 the club ultimately decided upon the Baltimore Stallions.

Overall, Baltimore had strong dedicated ownership, experienced CFL personnel and players, which made it the most successful American team in the CFL, especially when they became the 1995 Grey Cup champions. Unlike the rest of the American teams in the CFL, the Baltimore Stallions had a strong fan base and had strong attendance numbers averaging 37,347 in 1994-which ranked first in the CFL and 30,112 in 1995-which ranked second in the CFL.

However, after their Grey Cup victory, then Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell planned to move the Browns to Baltimore. After having knowledge of this move by Modell, Baltimore's enthusiasm for the Baltimore Stallions decreased as only around 200 fans showed up for the Grey Cup parade celebration. Noticing the danger to his team, Speros enlisted and hoped that Baltimore's local government and businesses would show support to keep the "Stallions" in Baltimore, but it proved to be unsuccessful.

[edit] In The End

Art Modell eventually moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, and were known as the Baltimore Ravens. Afterwards, Jim Speros tried to look at other American markets to move the franchise, most notably being Richmond, Virginia, however, when the CFL decided to disband all other American franchises (with the exception of his team and the Texans), Speros decided to move the franchise to Montreal and became the third reincarnation of the Montreal Alouettes. After owning the team for one more season Speros eventually sold the Montreal Alouettes to Robert C. Wetenhall in 1997.

[edit] Players and builders of note

[edit] Retired

[edit] Still Playing

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
CFL USA

Sacramento Gold Miners (1993-94) • Las Vegas Posse (1994) • Baltimore Stallions (1994-95) • Shreveport Pirates (1994-95) • San Antonio Texans (1995) • Birmingham Barracudas (1995) • Memphis Mad Dogs (1995)

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