The 1981 BC Lions finished in third place in the West Division with a 10–6 record.
Joe Paopao had an excellent season with 3777 yards passing and 28 passing touchdowns and running back Larry Key had 19 touchdowns in a bounceback season after missing most of the 1980 season due to injury. Wideout Ty Gray had a breakout season with 1428 yards receiving.
The Lions beat Winnipeg in the West Semi-Final, but fell to the Eskimos 22–16 in the Western Final when Warren Moon hit Brian Kelly for a late 4th quarter touchdown. The Western Final included a game changing officiating error involving a Devon Ford kickoff return for a Lions touchdown when the officials incorrectly stated he stepped out-of-bounds. Television replays showed he clearly did not step out-of-bounds (video replay was instituted 25 years later in 2006).
Running back Larry Key and centre Al Wilson made the CFL all-star team.
This season marked the first time in Lions history that every regular season (16 in all) and playoff game (2) was televised.
Offseason CFL draft RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool
Preseason Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record
Regular season Season standings
Season schedule Week Game Date Opponent Results Score Record 1 1 July 4 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 48–8 1–0 2Bye 3 2 July 16 at Toronto Argonauts W 32–28 2–0 4 3 July 25 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders W 31–17 3–0 5 4 July 31 at Calgary Stampeders W 52–29 4–0 6 5 Aug 9 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 28–24 5–0 7 6 Aug 16 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 23–37 5–1 8 7 Aug 23 at Montreal Alouettes W 29–14 6–1 9 8 Aug 29 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 31–21 7–1 10 9 Sept 4 at Ottawa Rough Riders L 7–17 7–2 11 10 Sept 13 at Edmonton Eskimos L 21–38 7–3 12 11 Sept 19 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 45–14 8–3 13 12 Sept 27 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 10–46 8–4 14 13 Oct 3 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 12–22 8–5 15 Bye 16 14 Oct 17 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 22–49 8–6 17 15 Oct 25 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 34–7 9–6 18 16 Oct 31 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 13–5 10–6
Playoffs West Semi-Final Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalBC Lions 0 11 3 1 15Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 1 0 3 11
West Final Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalBC Lions 3 13 0 0 16Edmonton Eskimos 6 3 6 7 22
Offensive leaders Player Passing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD Joe Paopao 3777 2500 Larry Key 109823719 John Henry White 4823861 Tyrone Gray 1014289 Ricky Ellis 135944 Al Charuk 05825 Harry Holt 43672 Roster 1981 BC Lions final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen T T/G G G T G/T C C/G
Defensive linemen DT DE DE DT DT DE Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams K/P
Italics indicate International player
Awards and records 1981 CFL All-Stars RB – Larry Key, CFL All-Star C – Al Wilson, CFL All-Star
1981 CFL Western All-Stars RB – Larry Key, CFL Western All-Star WR – Tyrone Grey, CFL All-Star C – Al Wilson, CFL Western All-Star
References