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1996 Toronto Argonauts season

{{Short description|CFL team season}}

{{Infobox NFL_season

| logo = Toronto Old Logo.jpg

| team = Toronto Argonauts

| year = 1996

| record = 15–3

| division_place = 1st, East

| coach = Don Matthews{{cite web|url=http://www.argonauts.ca/page/all-time-coaching|title=All-Time Coaching|accessdate=2011-05-07|publisher=Toronto Argonauts|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422084043/http://argonauts.ca/page/all-time-coaching|archivedate=2011-04-22|url-status=dead}}

| stadium = SkyDome{{cite web|url=http://www.argonauts.ca/page/stadium-history|title=Toronto Argonauts Stadium History|accessdate=2011-05-07|publisher=Toronto Argonauts|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422083852/http://argonauts.ca/page/stadium-history|archivedate=2011-04-22|url-status=dead}}

| playoffs = Won Grey Cup

| shortnavlink = Argonauts seasons

}}

The 1996 Toronto Argonauts season was the 107th season for the team since the franchise's inception in 1873. The team finished in first place in the East Division with a 15–3 record and qualified for the playoffs after missing out during the previous season when they finished 4–14. The 11-win improvement was the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history. Furthermore, the team's 15 regular season wins was the most ever recorded by an Argonaut team until it was surpassed by the 2023 squad 27 years later, which finishing their season with a 16–2 record.

In the playoffs, the Argonauts defeated the newly relocated Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern Final and qualified for the 84th Grey Cup. Toronto defeated the Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 43–37, the second highest scoring Grey Cup game in history, and won their 13th Grey Cup championship.

Offseason

= CFL draft=

class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" style="background:#002147;color:#6699FF;"RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool
align="center"

|align=center| 1

2Kelly WiltshireCBJames Madison
align="center"

|align=center| 3

20L.J. EibenWRHumboldt State
align="center"

|align=center| 4

36Tom HipszDEToronto
align="center"

|align=center| 6

46Tim BiakabutukaRBMichigan
align="center"

|align=center| 7

55Craig PooleWRWindsor

{{cite web|url=http://www.argonauts.ca/page/all-time-draft-list |title=All-Time Draft List |accessdate=2011-05-07 |publisher=Toronto Argonauts |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422090154/http://argonauts.ca/page/all-time-draft-list |archivedate=22 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}

=Preseason=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Game

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Date

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Opponent

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" colspan=2 | Results

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Venue

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Attendance

style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Score

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Record

style="background:#ffbbbb"

! A

| June 13

| vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

| L 27–37 {{Small|(OT)}}

| 0–1

| SkyDome

| 13,247

style="background:#ddffdd"

! B

| June 19

| at Ottawa Rough Riders

| W 34–6

| 1–1

| Frank Clair Stadium

| 14,024

{{cite web|title=1996 Toronto Argonauts|url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/1996cfltor.html|accessdate=2010-11-07|publisher=Pro Football Archives}}

Regular season

= Season standings=

class="wikitable"

|+ East Division

! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts

align="center"

| align="left" |Toronto Argonauts

18153055635930
align="center"

| align="left" |Montreal Alouettes

18126053646724
align="center"

| align="left" |Hamilton Tiger-Cats

18810042657616
align="center"

| align="left" |Ottawa Rough Riders

1831503525246

{{cite web|url=http://cfl.ca/standings/1996/reg|title=1996 Regular Season Standings|accessdate=2011-05-07|publisher=Canadian Football League|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029091027/http://www.cfl.ca/standings/1996/reg|archive-date=2008-10-29|url-status=dead}}

=Regular season=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Week

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Game

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Date

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Opponent

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" colspan=2 | Results

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Venue

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Attendance

style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Score

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Record

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 1

! 1

| June 27

| at Montreal Alouettes

| W 27–24

| 1–0

| Olympic Stadium

| 24,653

style="background:#ffbbbb"

! 2

! 2

| July 4

| vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

| L 36–38

| 1–1

| SkyDome

| 26,333

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 3

! 3

| July 11

| at Winnipeg Blue Bombers

| W 35–14

| 2–1

| Winnipeg Stadium

| 24,882

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 4

! 4

| July 17

| vs. Ottawa Rough Riders

| W 34–4

| 3–1

| SkyDome

| 17,288

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 5

! 5

| July 26

| at Saskatchewan Roughriders

| W 40–16

| 4–1

| Taylor Field

| 24,902

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 6

! 6

| Aug 1

| vs. Montreal Alouettes

| W 40–31

| 5–1

| SkyDome

| 20,302

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 7

! 7

| Aug 8

| vs. Edmonton Eskimos

| W 24–21

| 6–1

| SkyDome

| 20,030

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 8

! 8

| Aug 15

| at Ottawa Rough Riders

| W 42–19

| 7–1

| Frank Clair Stadium

| 15,220

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 9

! 9

| Aug 24

| vs. Ottawa Rough Riders

| W 28–21

| 8–1

| SkyDome

| 17,186

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 10

! 10

| Sept 2

| at Hamilton Tiger-Cats

| W 38–7

| 9–1

| Ivor Wynne Stadium

| 27,517

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 11

! 11

| Sept 8

| vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders

| W 31–13

| 10–1

| SkyDome

| 17,576

style="background:#ffbbbb"

! 12

! 12

| Sept 14

| at BC Lions

| L 11–35

| 10–2

| BC Place

| 15,323

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 13

! 13

| Sept 21

| vs. Calgary Stampeders

| W 23–22

| 11–2

| SkyDome

| 27,209

14

| colspan=7 | Bye

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 15

! 14

| Oct 5

| vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers

| W 28–12

| 12–2

| SkyDome

| 17,310

style="background:#ffbbbb"

! 16

! 15

| Oct 14

| at Calgary Stampeders

| L 23–30

| 12–3

| McMahon Stadium

| 27,436

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 17

! 16

| Oct 20

| at Edmonton Eskimos

| W 24–17

| 13–3

| Commonwealth Stadium

| 27,567

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 18

! 17

| Oct 27

| vs. BC Lions

| W 25–21

| 14–3

| SkyDome

| 20,657

style="background:#ddffdd"

! 19

! 18

| Nov 2

| at Hamilton Tiger-Cats

| W 47–14

| 15–3

| Ivor Wynne Stadium

| 23,001

Postseason

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Game

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Date

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Opponent

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" colspan=2 | Results

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Venue

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" rowspan=2 | Attendance

style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Score

! style="{{Gridiron primary style|Toronto Argonauts|border=2}};" | Record

style="background:#ddffdd"

! East Final

| Sun, Nov 17

| vs. Montreal Alouettes

| W 43–7

| 1–0

| SkyDome

| 28,390

style="background:#ddffdd"

! Grey Cup

| Sun, Nov 24

| vs. Edmonton Eskimos

| W 43–37

| 2–0

| Ivor Wynne Stadium

| 38,595

Awards and records

  • Doug Flutie, Most Outstanding Player Award{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_oplayer |title=Most Outstanding Player |publisher=Canadian Football League |accessdate=2011-05-15 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422021042/http://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_oplayer |archivedate=22 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}
  • Doug Flutie, Terry Evanshen Trophy
  • Mike Kiselak, Outstanding Offensive Lineman{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_oline |title=Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman |publisher=Canadian Football League |accessdate=2011-05-15 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422022348/http://www.cfl.ca/page/more_player_awards_oline |archivedate=22 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite book|title=2010 Toronto Argonauts Media Guide |date=2010 |accessdate=2011-05-07 |page=168 |url=http://www.argonauts.ca/uploads/assets/TOR/Media_Guide_2010/MediaGuide2010_PART%202.pdf |publisher=Toronto Argonauts |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430101919/http://argonauts.ca/uploads/assets/TOR/Media_Guide_2010/MediaGuide2010_PART%202.pdf |archivedate=30 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}

=1996 CFL All-Stars=

WR- Terrance Lawrence

References

{{reflist}}

{{1996 CFL season by team}}

{{Toronto Argonauts seasons}}

{{Toronto Argonauts}}

{{84th Grey Cup}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 Toronto Argonauts Season}}

Category:Toronto Argonauts seasons

Category:James S. Dixon Trophy championship seasons

Category:Grey Cup championship seasons

Category:1996 in sports in Ontario

Category:1996 in Toronto