Bombers ended Grey Cup drought 40 years ago

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/11/2024 (619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made it to the Grey Cup in 1984, the football team ended a drought that had lasted 19 years. The Bombers had last played in the Canadian championship final in 1965, losing 22-16 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The victory drought was even longer, as the team’s last championship had come in 1962, under the leadership of coach Bud Grant. In a game labelled The Fog Bowl, the Bombers beat the Tiger-Cats 28-27.

Paul Robson, who played for the Bombers in 1965, was promoted from assistant general manager to GM for the 1983 season. His first move back to respectability was the appointment of Cal Murphy as head coach. Murphy, who was born in Winnipeg, had won six Grey Cups as an assistant coach in Edmonton and Montreal. Partway through the season, quarterback Dieter Brock was traded to Hamilton for Tom Clements, the Tiger-Cats signal caller. Winnipeg’s first playoff victory over Edmonton in 17 seasons came in the West Division semi-final when they beat the Eskimos 49-22. B.C. Lions beat the Bombers 39-21 in the 1983 Western final.

In 1984, Winnipeg lost its opening game, but then ran off seven straight victories. The Bombers, with a record of 11-4-1, finished the regular season in second place in the West, just behind the Lions, who beat them 20-3 in the regular-season finale. In the semi-final at Winnipeg Stadium, Bombers crushed the Eskimos 55-20. This set up a Western final in B.C. Place Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of just under 60,000.

The Bombers proved up to the task and beat the Lions 31-14. Clements and running back Willard Reaves, who was later named the CFL’s most outstanding player, led the attack. In the East final, the second-place Tiger-Cats upset the first-place Toronto Argonauts 14-13. This meant the Grey Cup finalists from 1962 and 1965 would go head-to-head again with a story-line of Clements vs. Brock. The City of Edmonton hosted its first Grey Cup on Nov. 18 at Commonwealth Stadium.

The Winnipeg Free Press front page headline on Nov. 19 read “Bombers are winners…at last.” The headline in the sports section was “22-year famine ends.”

The score was Winnipeg 47 Hamilton 17. Early in the second quarter, the Tiger-Cats led 17-3. Brock ran for one touchdown and threw a seven-yard pass to Rocky DiPietro for another. Former Bomber Bernie Ruoff kicked two converts and a field goal for the Ticats while Trevor Kennerd booted one three-pointer for the Bombers.

An interception by corner back David Shaw in the second quarter seemed to turn the tide and the Bombers went on to score a record 27 points in the quarter. Reaves scored on a three-yard run, Stan Mikawos recovered a Brock fumble and ran the ball into the end zone, and a third TD came on a pass from Clements to Joe Poplawski. Kennerd contributed to the onslaught with two field goals and three converts. The Bombers added 17 more points in the second half on a short run by Reaves, a TD pass from John Hufnagel to Jeff Boyd, and a field goal and two converts by Kennerd.

Clements was named offensive player of the game and Bomber linebacker Tyrone Jones was selected the top defensive player. With Reaves nursing an injury, running back Sean Kehoe saw much more action than usual. He caught five passes for 47 yards and ran for 89 yards. During the season, his rushing total had been just 54 yards. Kehoe also returned two punts for 31 yards. His offensive outburst earned him recognition as the outstanding Canadian player.

In the Oct. 30 Memories of Sport column, 2024 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame builder inductee Russ Horbal was incorrectly identified as Ted Horbal. My apologies for the error.