# 1997 Toronto Argonauts season

The 1997 Toronto Argonauts season was the 108th 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 for the second consecutive year. The defending champion Argonauts defeated the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern Final and qualified for the 85th Grey Cup to defend their title. Toronto defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 47–23, winning their 14th Grey Cup championship, and repeated as Grey Cup champions.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

| Rd | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 1 | Chad Folk | OL | Utah |
| 1 | 9 | Mathew DuBuc | SB | Texas Tech |
| 2 | 17 | Steve Salter | OL | Ottawa |
| 3 | 18 | Aldi Henry | CB | Michigan State |
| 3 | 24 | Dave Mudge | OT | Michigan State |
| 4 | 33 | Jayson Hansen | OL | Texas Tech |
| 5 | 41 | Mark Giardetti | DE | Evangel College |
| 6 | 48 | Kris Kershaw | QB | Salisbury State |

### Ottawa Rough Riders Dispersal Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Pos |
| 1 | 9 | Sammie Brennan | DB |
| 2 | 17 | Travis Anderson | WR |
| 3 | 25 | Joe Mero | CB |

### Preseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | June 13 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 18–14 | 1–0 | SkyDome | 13,452 |
| B | June 18 | at Montreal Alouettes | W 40–0 | 2–0 | Olympic Stadium | 6,394 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

East Division :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 660 | 327 | 30 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 509 | 532 | 26 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 443 | 548 | 8 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 362 | 549 | 4 |

### Regular season

| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | June 27 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 38–23 | 1–0 | SkyDome | 16,551 |
| 2 | July 6 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 20–15 | 2–0 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 14,033 |
| 3 | July 12 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 23–27 | 2–1 | Taylor Field | 22,956 |
| 4 | July 17 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 27–20 | 3–1 | SkyDome | 17,222 |
| 5 | July 24 | at BC Lions | W 34–20 | 4–1 | BC Place | 23,330 |
| 6 | July 31 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 46–8 | 5–1 | SkyDome | 16,213 |
| 7 | August 7 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 35–45 | 5–2 | McMahon Stadium | 25,311 |
| 8 | August 14 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 38–14 | 6–2 | SkyDome | 18,031 |
| 9 | August 21 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 27–1 | 7–2 | SkyDome | 17,330 |
| 10 | September 1 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 46–3 | 8–2 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 18,377 |
| 11 | September 7 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 66–25 | 9–2 | Winnipeg Stadium | 21,080 |
| 12 | September 14 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 34–9 | 10–2 | SkyDome | 20,234 |
| 13 | September 20 | at Edmonton Eskimos | W 25–24 | 11–2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 38,619 |
| 14 | September 28 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 41–9 | 12–2 | Winnipeg Stadium | 20,004 |
| 15 | October 4 | vs. BC Lions | W 46–3 | 13–2 | SkyDome | 17,019 |
| 16 | October 11 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 28–21 | 14–2 | SkyDome | 17,355 |
| 17 | October 18 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 48–17 | 15–2 | SkyDome | 24,083 |
| 18 | October 26 | at Montreal Alouettes | L 38–43 | 15–3 | Olympic Stadium | 10,801 |

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| East Final | Sun, Nov 9 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 37–30 | 1–0 | SkyDome | 32,085 |
| Grey Cup | Sun, Nov 16 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 47–23 | 2–0 | Commonwealth Stadium | 60,431 |

### Grey Cup

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Toronto Argonauts | 7 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 47 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 23 |

## Awards and records

* Doug Flutie, Most Outstanding Player Award
* Mike Kiselak, Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award
* Derrell Mitchell, Outstanding Rookie Award

### 1997 CFL All-Stars

* QB – Doug Flutie
* FB – Robert Drummond
* SB – Derrell Mitchell
* C – Mike Kiselak
* DT – Rob Waldrop
* DB – Johnnie Harris
* DS – Lester Smith
* P/K – Mike Vanderjagt
* ST – Mike "Pinball" Clemons
* WR – {Terrance Lawrence}