| Team: | Baltimore Stallions |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Record: | 15–3 |
| Division Place: | 1st, South |
| Owner: | Jim Speros |
| General Manager: | Jim Popp |
| Coach: | Don Matthews |
| Stadium: | Memorial Stadium |
| Radio: | WCBM |
| Playoffs: | Won Grey Cup |
| Mvp: | Mike Pringle |
| Roy: | Chris Wright |
| Uniform: | Image:CFL Jersey BAL 1994.png |
| Previous: | 1994 (CFLers) |
| Next: | none |
| Shortnavlink: | Baltimore Stallions seasons |
| No Nextseason: | true |
The 1995 Baltimore Stallions season was the second and final season in the history of the Baltimore CFL franchise. The team became the first (and to date, only) American-based football team to win the Grey Cup. Despite the Stallions success, attendance dropped. The club only sold 9,000 season tickets.[1] The 1994 and 1995 Stallions radio flagship station was WJFK, 1300AM in Baltimore. Owned by Infinity Broadcasting, Bruce Cunningham of Fox45 TV served as play-by-play announcer, with former NFL Baltimore Colts stars Joe Washington, Bruce Laird, and Tom Matte providing analysis, and Mark Thoner of WLIF-FM as Producer.
As it turned out, the 83rd Grey Cup would be the last game the Stallions would ever play. A week before the Grey Cup, the Cleveland Browns announced they were moving to Baltimore. Owner Jim Speros balked at the prospect of competing with an NFL team and opted to move elsewhere. When it became apparent that the CFL was giving up its attempt to gain a foothold in the United States, he opted to move his team to Montreal as the Montreal Alouettes. In doing so, Speros canceled his franchise in Baltimore and revived the 1946–86 Alouettes franchise. As a result, the 1995 season is officially the last season of Stallions history, and the Stallions are officially one of only two Grey Cup champions in the modern era to fold.
| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||
| 1 | Sat, June 17 | Ottawa Rough Riders | W 45–11 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | 20,642 | |
| 2 | Sat, June 24 | Birmingham Barracudas | W 37–0 | 2–0 | Miami Orange Bowl | 20,216 |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | Fri, June 30 | at BC Lions | L 34–37[4] | 0–1 | BC Place | 23,999 | |
| 2 | 2 | Sat, July 8 | San Antonio Texans | W 50–24 | 1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 31,016 | |
| 3 | 3 | Sat, July 15 | at San Antonio Texans | W 28–23 | 2–1 | Alamodome | 18,112 | |
| 4 | 4 | Sat, July 22 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 43–7 | 3–1 | Memorial Stadium | 30,641 | |
| 5 | 5 | Sat, July 29 | at Birmingham Barracudas | W 36–8 | 4–1 | Legion Field | 30,729 | |
| 6 | 6 | Wed, Aug 2 | W 19–12 | 5–1 | Commonwealth Stadium | 30,698 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Sun, Aug 6 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 15–29 | 5–2 | McMahon Stadium | 24,463 | |
| 7 | 8 | Sat, Aug 12 | Memphis Mad Dogs | L 15–25 | 5–3 | Memorial Stadium | 31,221 | |
| 8 | 9 | Sat, Aug 19 | at Memphis Mad Dogs | W 16–13 | 6–3 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 18,249 | |
| 9 | 10 | Sat, Aug 26 | Toronto Argonauts | W 41–14 | 7–3 | Memorial Stadium | 27,853 | |
| 10 | 11 | Sat, Sept 2 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 41–14 | 8–3 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 23,120 | |
| 11 | 12 | Sat, Sept 9 | Birmingham Barracudas | W 28–20 | 9–3 | Memorial Stadium | 29,013 | |
| 12 | 13 | Fri, Sept 15 | at Shreveport Pirates | W 24–17 | 10–3 | Independence Stadium | 12,445 | |
| 13 | 14 | Sat, Sept 23 | Shreveport Pirates | W 42–32 | 11–3 | Memorial Stadium | 27,321 | |
| 14 | 15 | Sun, Oct 1 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 28–24 | 12–3 | Taylor Field | 30,738 | |
| 15 | 16 | Sat, Oct 7 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 29–27 | 13–3 | Memorial Stadium | 31,421 | |
| 16 | Bye | |||||||
| 17 | 17 | Sat, Oct 21 | BC Lions | W 28–26 | 14–3 | Memorial Stadium | 33,208 | |
| 18 | 18 | Sun, Oct 29 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 24–17 | 15–3 | Memorial Stadium | 29,310 | |
Mike Pringle ran for 484 playoff yards and four touchdowns in three games. The result was that the Baltimore Stallions made their second straight appearance in the Grey Cup.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||
| South Semi-Final | Sat, Nov 4 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 36–21 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | 21,040 | |
| South Final | Sun, Nov 12 | San Antonio Texans | W 21–11 | 2–0 | Memorial Stadium | 30,217 | |
| 83rd Grey Cup | Sun, Nov 19 | Calgary Stampeders | W 37–20 | 3–0 | Taylor Field | 52,564 |
The 83rd Grey Cup was played between the Baltimore Stallions and the Calgary Stampeders at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Stallions won the game by a score of 37–20.[6] It marked the only time that an American-based team won the Grey Cup. Not one television station from Baltimore sent a crew to Regina to cover the Grey Cup game.[7] Only 200 fans showed up for the Stallions Grey Cup celebration.[7] As for the Grey Cup game itself, Chris Wright scored a then CFL record 82 yard punt return touchdown.[8] The aforementioned record stood until the 2018 Grey Cup, with Terry Williams returning a punt for 97 yards to conclude the first half.
After the season, other Baltimore Stallions' received awards and accomplishments in the CFL, which are:Divisional Awards
CFL Awards
1995 Southern All-Stars
Offense
Defense
Special Teams
1995 CFL All-Stars
Offense
Defense
Special Teams
In late 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to relocate his NFL club to Baltimore, where they would be rechristened the Baltimore Ravens. This would have made the Stallions the only CFL club ever to directly compete with the NFL, whose season overlaps with the last three months of the CFL season.
In late November, Jim Speros had a Save our Stallions campaign, with January 5 as the deadline to sell 20,000 season tickets.[7] It was revealed that the team was $800,000 in debt.[7]
Stallions owner Jim Speros realized that despite the Stallions' popularity, they could not possibly compete with the NFL. After deals with Norfolk, Virginia and Houston fell through, Speros moved the Stallions to Montreal and revived the old Alouettes name for the 1996 season.