# 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders season

The 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in second place in the East Division with an 8–8 record. This season marked the last time an Ottawa football team hosted a playoff game until 2015 when the second-year Ottawa Redblacks hosted the East Final, where the Rough Riders lost the East-Semi Final game to Hamilton by a score of 33–31.

## Offseason
### CFL Draft

| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 2 | Steve Harrison | LB | British Columbia |
| 2 | 11 | Junior Robinson | DB | Guelph |
| 3 | 20 | Sam Benincasa | LB | Guelph |
| 4 | 29 | John Kane | OL | Michigan Tech |
| 5 | 38 | Courtney Taylor | DB | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 6 | 47 | Francois Payer | DE | Bishop's |
| 7 | 56 | Chris Rhora | DE | Acadia |
| 8 | 65 | Don Clow | WR | Acadia |

### Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | June 10 | at Montreal Concordes | L 4–14 | 0–1 | | 10,100 |
| B | June 16 | vs. Montreal Concordes | L 13–34 | 0–2 | | 12,803 |
| C | June 24 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 15–31 | 0–3 | | 28,107 |
| D | June 29 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 47–40 | 1–3 | | 13,331 |

## Regular season
### Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Toronto Argonauts | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 452 | 328 | 4–2 | W2 | Details |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 384 | 424 | 2–4 | L2 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 389 | 498 | 3–2–1 | T1 | Details |
| Montreal Concordes | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 367 | 447 | 2–3–1 | T1 | Details |

### Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | July 8 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 26–25 | 1–0 | | 18,995 |
| 2 | 2 | July 16 | at Montreal Concordes | L 28–36 | 1–1 | | 15,621 |
| 3 | 3 | July 21 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | L 16–27 | 1–2 | | 18,621 |
| 4 | 4 | July 28 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | L 4–44 | 1–3 | | 18,622 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | 5 | Aug 13 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 22–24 | 1–4 | | 14,729 |
| 7 | 6 | Aug 19 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 17–27 | 1–5 | | 30,006 |
| 8 | 7 | Aug 26 | at Edmonton Eskimos | W 17–14 | 2–5 | | 49,880 |
| 9 | 8 | Sept 2 | vs. BC Lions | W 49–19 | 3–5 | | 22,234 |
| 10 | 9 | Sept 9 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 28–29 | 3–6 | | 23,475 |
| 11 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 12 | 10 | Sept 25 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 29–25 | 4–6 | | 26,014 |
| 13 | 11 | Oct 1 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 24–23 | 5–6 | | 24,404 |
| 14 | 12 | Oct 8 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 29–24 | 6–6 | | 24,167 |
| 15 | 13 | Oct 16 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 42–23 | 7–6 | | 25,642 |
| 16 | 14 | Oct 23 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 20–19 | 8–6 | | 36,526 |
| 17 | 15 | Oct 29 | vs. Montreal Concordes | L 20–25 | 8–7 | | 20,959 |
| 18 | 16 | Nov 5 | at BC Lions | L 13–40 | 8–8 | | 42,901 |

## Postseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| East Semi-Final | Nov 13 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 31–33 | 0–1 | | 28,524 |

## Awards and honours
### CFL Awards

* CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Marshall (DE)
* CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Rudy Phillips (OG)

### CFL All-Stars

* RB – Alvin "Skip" Walker
* OG – Rudy Phillips
* OT – Kevin Powell
* DT – Gary Dulin
* DE – Greg Marshall