2008 Toronto Argonauts season

2008 Toronto Argonauts season
Head coach	Rich Stubler (to Sept. 9) Don Matthews (Sept. 9 to Oct. 31)
General manager	Adam Rita
Home field	Rogers Centre
Results
Record	4–14–0
Division place	3rd, East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 2008 Toronto Argonauts season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and 136th season overall. The Argonauts attempted to win their 16th Grey Cup, but they failed to make the playoffs ending the season on a nine-game losing streak.

Offseason

CFL Draft

In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players^[1] from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.

Notable transactions

Quarterback Kerry Joseph jogs offs the Rogers Centre field

^[2]

• The Toronto Argonauts signed former National Football League receiver/kick-returner Bethel Johnson on May 26. Johnson is a two-time Super Bowl champion, who posted a league-best 28.2-yard kickoff return average as a rookie in 2003 with the New England Patriots. Johnson signed with the Argos on Monday, May 26.^[3]
• Damon Allen, 44, announced his retirement from the CFL on May 28. Allen had maintained during the offseason that he intended to attend training camp and compete for the starter's job. Allen would have gone into camp third on the depth chart behind newly acquired Kerry Joseph and veteran Michael Bishop, both of whom signed new deals with the Argos in the off-season.

Allen retires as pro football's career passing leader with 72,381 yards. He played on four Grey Cup-winning teams and in 2005, he captured the league's outstanding player award.^[4]

• June 5, 2008: The Argos acquired running back Jamal Robertson from the Saskatchewan Roughriders for Canadian cornerback Leron Mitchell. He was a former University of Western Ontario Mustangs star who this off-season had a workout with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.^[5]

Rosters

Pre-season roster

As of June 10, 2008

Toronto Argonauts roster
Quarterbacks  4 Kerry Joseph 12 Reggie McNeal 14 Cody Pickett 17 Michael Bishop Running Backs 44 Andre Durie 24 Tyler Ebell 25 Jamal Robertson 33 Jeff Johnson 34 Dominique Dorsey RB/KR 40 Bryan Crawford 42 Dashawn Thomas Receivers  5 Arland Bruce III SB  9 Andre Talbot WR 15 Tyler Scott WR 16 Obed Cétoute WR 19 James Robinson WR 47 Steve Schmidt R/TE 80 Chris Cole WR 81 David Gray TE 82 TJ Acree SB 83 Bethel Johnson WR 84 Patrick Johnson SB 85 Chad Rempel SB 86 Nathan Hoffart SB 88 Mike Bradwell WR		Offensive Linemen 53 Mark Dewit 56 Chad Folk C 57 Brian Ramsay OT 58 Scott Evans OG 59 Jerome Davis OT 61 Ross Weaver OT 62 Ben Brielmaier OT 65 Taylor Robertson OG 66 Jude St. John OG 67 Nikolas Sobic OT Defensive Linemen  7 Riall Johnson DE 78 Adriano Belli DT 90 Adrian Davis DT 93 Jean-Nicolas Carrière DL/LB 94 Seante Williams DE 97 Jonathan Brown DE		Linebackers  2 Michael Fletcher ILB  6 Yves Hercule ILB 10 Willie Pile OLB 35 Kevin Eiben OLB 38 Andre Maddox OLB 43 Adrian Mayes OLB 50 Mike O'Shea ILB 51 Raymond Fontaine OLB 52 Aaron Wagner ILB 54 Eric Maranda ILB 95 Richard Seigler ILB Defensive Backs  3 Khalil Carter DB  8 Chris Hardy S 18 DeJuan Groce CB 21 Orlondo Steinauer S 23 Willie Middlebrooks DB 24 Tra Boger DB 26 Dyshod Carter CB 28 Byron Parker CB 29 Wayne Shaw S 30 Kenny Wheaton DB 32 Chuck Winters DB 37 Antonio Perkins CB 39 Delroy Clarke DB 46 Kenny Heatly CB Special teams 70 Robert Eeuwes K/P 45 Randy Srochenski LS/LB 13 Mike Vanderjagt K/P		Injured Reserve Suspended list 64 Richard Zulys OL 73 Michael Quarshie DT 89 David Boston WR Practice Roster Italics indicates Import player Roster updated 2008-06-10 Depth Chart • Transactions 69 Active, 3 Inactive

End of season roster

Schedule

Preseason

^[6]

Regular season

^[6]

Regular season

Toronto started the season off well, winning against the Blue Bombers 23–16, but after that they compiled a 2–5 record the next 7 games. After the Bye week, everything went downhill, they won only one game and lost 9 start to finish the season 4–14 and missed the playoffs.

A raucous Labour Day crowd of 25,911 at Ivor Wynne Stadium witnessed a game that ended with a 34–31 Argo victory, the team's first win against the Ti-cats of the season. Argo head coach Rich Stubler's job was rumoured to be on the line.^[7] Argos receiver Arland Bruce III found time for a little theatrics, celebrating an 11-yard TD catch by donning a Spiderman mask produced from his pants.^[7] Several days later, the Canadian Football League fined the Argonauts receiver an undisclosed amount for his touchdown celebration against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by donning a Spider-Man mask.^[8] Game officials had handed Bruce an objectionable conduct penalty after the incident. Bruce went on to have his best game of the season, catching 10 passes for a game-high 149 yards.^[8]

On September 9, Rich Stubler was released as head coach of the Argonauts after posting a 4–6 record. There was the belief he couldn't get along with those he worked with.^[9] The Argos hired Don Matthews, the head coach with the most wins in CFL history and head coach during Toronto's back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 1996 and 1997, to return to the club as head coach for the third time in his coaching career.^[10]

During the team's next game on September 12 at Rogers Centre, Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback Milt Stegall became the most prolific receiver in the history of the CFL.^[11] The slotback caught a 92-yard pass at 9:02 in the second quarter to raise his career total to 14,983, breaking the mark of 14,891 yards previously held by former Stampeders receiver Allen Pitts.^[11] Stegall took a pass from Kevin Glenn and scored a touchdown, his second of the game. It put the Bombers ahead 28–3.^[11]

On October 31, Don Matthews resigned from the Argonauts a day after the conclusion of the Argonauts 2008 regular season, which saw the Argos fail to win a game in the eight games under his leadership and finishing out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 CFL season.^[12]

Season standings

Statistics

Offence

Passing

^[13]

Rushing

^[13]

Receiving

^[14]

Postseason

The Argos finished third in the East Division with a record of 4 wins and 14 losses. The Edmonton Eskimos, who finished fourth in the West, had a better record of 10 and 8, and under the cross-over rule eliminated Toronto from the playoffs and play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East semi-final.

Awards and records

• Arland Bruce, Eastern Division All-Star, Offence^[15]
• Jonathan Brown, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence
• Dominique Dorsey, CFL Eastern All-Star, Special Teams
• John Agro Special Teams Award – Dominique Dorsey (RB), Toronto Argonauts
• Kenny Wheaton, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence

References

Further reading

On training camp

• Zelkovich, Chris (2008-06-18). "No happy campers in Argoland". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 June 2008. 

External links

• 2008 Toronto Argonauts Season
• Official CFL team training camp preview

Toronto Argonauts
Founded in 1873 Based in Toronto, Ontario
Franchise	Franchise Records Players Seasons Head coaches First-round draft picks
Stadiums	BMO Field Rogers Centre Exhibition Stadium Varsity Stadium Rosedale Field
Culture and lore	Argonotes Labour Day Classic
Important figures	Doug Flutie Joe Theismann Terry Greer Condredge Holloway Dan Ferrone Dick Shatto Don Moen Paul Masotti Pinball Clemons Damon Allen
Retired numbers	22 31 55 60
Key personnel	Owners: Kilmer Sports and Bell Canada consortium General Manager: Jim Barker Head Coach: Scott Milanovich
Grey Cup Championships (16)	1914 1921 1933 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1950 1952 1983 1991 1996 1997 2004 2012
Eastern Division/IRFU Championships (23)	1911 1912 1914 1920 1921 1922 1933 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1950 1952 1971 1982 1983 1987 1991 1996 1997 2004 2012
Current league affiliations	League: Canadian Football League Division: East