The 2008 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 76th overall. The Blue Bombers attempted to win their 11th Grey Cup championship, but they lost in the Eastern Semi-Final game against the Edmonton Eskimos, who crossed over from the West.
Offseason
CFL draft The Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved up in the CFL draft without even making a trade. The Bombers moved into the sixth spot in the CFL's college entry draft when the Montreal Alouettes lost their first choice. The Alouettes lost the choice because the club exceeded its salary cap by more than $100,000.CANOE – SLAM! Sports – CFL – Winnipeg: Bombers movin' on up
Round Pick Player Position School/Club team 1 6 Brendon LaBatte OL Regina 2 15 Aaron Hargreaves WR Simon Fraser 3 24 (via Edmonton via Saskatchewan) Daryl Stephenson RB Windsor 4 31 Marc Bestwick DB Saint Mary's 5 39 Don Oramasionwu DL Manitoba 6 47 Pierre-Luc Labbé LB Sherbrooke
Transactions On May 20, the Bombers officially signed former U.S. college stars Bryan Randall and Cleveland McCoy.CANOE – SLAM! Sports – CFL – Winnipeg: Blue strike QB gold On Tuesday, May 27, Milt Stegall announced that he will not participate in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp after undergoing knee surgery May 2.CANOE – SLAM! Sports – CFL – Winnipeg: Bombers veteran Stegall to miss training camp The Bombers also announced they've released veteran cornerback Juran Bolden. The 33-year-old Tampa native spent the 2007 CFL season with Winnipeg, but didn't play in the Grey Cup due to a hamstring injury. The six-foot-three, 210-pound Bolden was originally a fourth-round pick of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in 1996. Bolden twice played for the Falcons ('96–'97, 2002–'03). Other NFL teams included the Carolina Panthers ('98), Kansas City Chiefs ('99), Jacksonville Jaguars ('04) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ('05–'06).
Regular season On September 12 at Rogers Centre, Milt Stegall became the most prolific receiver in the history of the CFL.https://sports.yahoo.com/cfl/news?slug=cp-cfl_stegall_record&prov=cp&type=lgns 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. Stegall took a pass from Kevin Glenn and scored a touchdown, his second of the game. It put the Bombers ahead 28–3. The touchdown was Stegall's 14,983rd career receiving yard. With the record broken, the announced crowd of 28,453 stood to applaud the milestone.
Season standings
Transactions September 9: Winnipeg acquired middle linebacker Zeke (And Destroy) Moreno and a conditional draft pick from Hamilton for its first-round draft pick in 2009 and the rights to Canadian defensive lineman Corey Mace.
Season schedule Week Date Opponent Score Result Attendance Record 1 June 27 vs. Toronto Argonauts 23–16 Loss 26,155 0–1 2 July 4 at Montreal Alouettes 38–24 Loss 20,202 0–2 3 July 11 vs. BC Lions 42–24 Loss 26,735 0–3 4 July 18 at BC Lions 27–18 Loss 37,174 0–4 5 July 24 vs. Calgary Stampeders 32–28 Win 26,882 1–4 6 Aug 1 at Toronto Argonauts 19–11 Loss 28,523 1–5 7 Aug 8 vs. Montreal Alouettes 39–11 Loss 27,674 1–6 8 Aug 14 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37–24 Win 25,484 2–6 9 Bye 2–6 10 Aug 31 at Saskatchewan Roughriders 19–6 Loss 30,985 2–7 11 Sept 7 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders 34–31 Loss 29,770 2–8 12 Sept 12 at Toronto Argonauts 39–9 Win 28,453 3–8 13 Sept 19 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats 25–23 Win 19,102 4–8 14 Sept 26 vs. Edmonton Eskimos 30–23 Win 29,794 5–8 15 Oct 4 at Edmonton Eskimos 36–22 Loss 40,453 5–9 16 Oct 10 vs. Toronto Argonauts 25–16 Win 27,368 6–9 17 Oct 18 at Calgary Stampeders 37–16 Loss 30,110 6–10 18 Oct 26 at Montreal Alouettes 24–23 Win 20,202 7–10 19 Nov 1 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats 44–30 Win 24,595 8–10
Roster 2008 Winnipeg Blue Bombers final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen C/G T T G G/T C G
Defensive linemen DT DE DT DT DE DE
Special teams LS K/P Linebackers
Defensive backs
Reserve roster SB SB C RB
Practice roster G WR DT RB LB
Injured list DB DE QB G LB DT DB G LB
Italics indicate International player
Statistics
Offence
Passing Player Att Comp % Yards TD INT Rating Kevin Glenn 454 293 64.5 3637 20 20 85.6 Ryan Dinwiddie 160 93 58.1 1299 5 6 79.2 Bryan Randall 22 9 40.9 99 0 1 36.0 Fred Reid 1 0 0 0 0 1 (−414.6) Timmy Chang 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 2.1
Rushing Player Att Yards Avg. TD Fumbles Fred Reid 101 709 7.0 3 0 Joe Smith 124 617 5.0 5 0 Kevin Glenn 29 102 3.5 0 2 Ryan Dinwiddie 21 101 4.8 1 1 Bryan Randall 12 78 6.5 0 0 Terrence Edwards 4 32 8.0 0 0
Receiving Player No. Yards Avg. Long TD Romby Bryant 63 1156 18.3 85 9 Derick Armstrong 81 1010 12.5 63 5 Terrence Edwards 76 1010 13.3 64 7 Arjei Franklin 52 620 11.9 73 1 Milt Stegall 30 470 15.7 92 3 Milt Stegall Has 14,750 receiving yards
Defence
Awards and records Doug Brown, James P. McCaffrey Trophy
CFL All-Stars Dan Goodspeed, Offensive Tackle Doug Brown, Defensive Tackle Zeke Moreno, Linebacker
CFL Eastern All-Stars Doug Brown, CFL Eastern All-Star Dan Goodspeed, CFL Eastern All-Star, Offence Kelly Malveaux, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence Zeke Moreno, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence Fred Reid, CFL Eastern All-Star, Offence Gavin Walls, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence
Milestones
Playoffs
East Semi-Final Date and time: Saturday, November 8, 12:00 PM Central Standard TimeVenue: Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalEdmonton Eskimos 3 18 8 0 29Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 7 0 6 21
References