Tag Archives: 1989 grey cup

CFL, NFL

Austin, Kent “Five”

Card: All World 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The CFL

Kent Austin won the CFL Grey Cup MVP honor in 1989 and also the CFL Coach of the Year Award in 2007 but before this his career started way back in 1986 as the third string quarterback of the  St. Louis Cardinals.

He’d head north after the season where Kent would play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1987-1993 experiencing tremendous success. Afterwards he’d play one season a piece for the British Columbia Lions (winning his second Grey Cup), Toronto Argonauts, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers retiring after the ’96 season.

Kent Austin decided to pursue coaching and has had stops in the CFL as both coordinator for the Argonauts and Roughriders and is the first coach to win a championship as both head coach and player of the same team. He headed back to the college ranks to coach at Mississippi and most recently took the head coaching job at Cornell in 2010. Listed below are his CFL statistics.

Att 4700    Comp 2709     Yds 36030   Pct 57.6%
Td  198  Int 191   Rat  79.1

CFL

Ridgway, Dave “Robokicker”

Card: All-World 1991
Acquired: TTM 1994, C/o The CFL

Small note about the Canadian Football League. Unlike the NFL, kickers roles are actually enhanced in the CFL with the aid of the ‘rouge’. If a kicker launches the ball and it goes out of the back of the endzone, but does not score a field goal, his team still receives a single point.

Drafted in 1981 by the Montreal Alouettes, Dave Ridgway’s career would be off to a bad start as he’d be unable to make the squad that season. Contacted in 1982 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he’d go on to become one of the most storied kickers of the CFL’s history. Ridgway would kick the game winning field goal in Saskatchewan’s exciting Grey Cup victory in 1989, and is the most accurate kicker in league history, knocking down 59 field goals in 1987, and 8 field goals in a game which are both league records as well. He’d retire in 1994, virtually in control of nearly all league kicking records.

A 6 time CFL All Star, Dave rightfully so has received numerous accolades since his retirement. His number (36) was retired by the Roughriders and he was inducted into the team’s Plaza of Honor in 2000. In 2003, Ridgway was also named to the CFL HoF, and won the MVP honor for his clutch field goal in the 1989 Grey Cup.

Dave’s name is spelled ‘Ridgway’, and he was nicknamed ‘Robokicker’ by his teammates for his ability to automatically hit field goals and the coincidence that the movie “RoboCop” had been released that year. Below is a link to the 1989 Grey Cup field goal and his final limited statistics, since the CFL does a horrid job of keeping them.

fga N/a    fgm N/a   pct .780  pts 2374

CFL

Aldag, Roger

Card: All World 1991
Acquired: C/o The CFL 1992

Roger played football in 3 decades (1976-1992) for the Saskatchewan Roughriders setting the team record playing in 271 games on the offensive line primarily as a guard. An immensely popular player during his time in the CFL, Aldag was a local product from Gull Lake, SK, and was named a Western All Star 8 times.  He retired before the 1993 season and is considered one of the leagues most outstanding players and solid lineman to play the sport. Roger’s fondest memory is winning the Grey Cup with the Roughriders in 1989.

A road grader, he won the CFL’s Offensive Lineman of the year award twice, was inducted into the Roughrider Plaza of Honor in 1993, he had his number retired and was inducted into the CFL HoF in 2002. Aldag was also named #32 on the CFL’s top 50 players list.

Currently Roger works for Trans Gas/Sask Energy in Regina as head of the Land Services division, is a proud season ticket holder of the Roughriders and is a rabid football fan, taking in college, and high school games when he can.