The 1977 BC Lions finished in second place in the Western Conference with a 10–6 record. They appeared in the Western Final.
General Manager Bob Ackles started a complete shakeup of the organization by bringing Edmonton assistant Vic Rapp in as the 10th head coach on January 21.
Ackles also recruited Jerry Tagge, who quarterbacked the two-time NCAA champion University of Nebraska and was a high first round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers. Tagge, who never found success with Green Bay, was enticed to come up to Canada to resurrect his football career. Tagge had a solid season throwing for 2787 yards but more importantly led the Lions to 10 victories and several last-minute heroics that earned the 1977 Lions the label the "Cardiac Kids". Tagge was the western nominee for Outstanding Player, but lost out to running back JImmy Edwards of Hamilton for the Outstanding Player Award in the CFL.
Al Wilson finally won the Schenley award for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman and receiver/return Leon Bright captured the Schenley Rookie award.
Rapp was named the Canadian Football League's Coach of the Year.
Tagge, Wilson and Bright were the 3 Lions selected to the CFL All-star team.
Offseason CFL draft RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool Preseason Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record
Regular season Season standings + Western Football Conference Team GP W L T PF PA PtsEdmonton Eskimos 16 10 6 0 412 320 20BC Lions 16 10 6 0 369 326 20 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 10 6 0 382 336 20 Saskatchewan Roughriders 16 8 8 0 330 389 16 Calgary Stampeders 16 4 12 0 241 327 8
Season schedule Week Game Date Opponent Results Score Record 1 1 July 12 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 14–9 1–0 2 2 July 20 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 34–14 2–0 3 3 July 26 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders L 5–24 2–1 4 4 Aug 3 at Calgary Stampeders W 30–26 3–1 5 5 Aug 9 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 18–24 3–2 6 6 Aug 17 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 25–17 4–2 7 7 Aug 23 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 30–0 5–2 8 8 Aug 31 at Ottawa Rough Riders W 27–24 6–2 9 9 Sept 10 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 33–21 7–2 10 10 Sept 17 at Edmonton Eskimos W 20–18 8–2 11 11 Sept 24 vs. Edmonton Eskimos W 30–13 9–2 12 12 Oct 2 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 15–19 9–3 13 Bye 14 13 Oct 15 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 18–17 10–3 15 14 Oct 23 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 21–31 10–4 16 15 Oct 30 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 28–38 10–5 17 16 Nov 5 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 21–31 10–6
Playoffs West Semi-Final Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalWinnipeg Blue Bombers 10 7 15 0 32BC Lions 10 10 6 7 33
West Final Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalBC Lions 0 1 0 0 1Edmonton Eskimos 17 3 10 8 38
Offensive leaders Player Passing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD Jerry Tagge 2787 4801 Mike Strickland 7513826 Leon Bright 438169 Jim Harrison 3452114 Terry Bailey 545583 Jim Young 05373 Al Charuk 03173 Roster 1977 BC Lions final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen G/T C G G T T T C
Defensive linemen DT DT DE DE DE/DT DE/DT Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams K/P
Italics indicate International player
Awards and records CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Al Wilson (DE) CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Leon Bright (WR)
1977 CFL All-Stars QB – Jerry Tagge, CFL All-Star WR- Leon Bright, CFL All-Star C – Al Wilson, CFL All-Star
References