1979 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

1979 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
Head coach	John Payne
Home field	Ivor Wynne Stadium
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	3rd, East
Playoff finish	Lost Eastern Semi-Final
Team MOP	Tom Clements
Team MOC	Leif Pettersen
Team MOR	Jim Reid

The 1979 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 22nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 30th overall. The Tiger-Cats finished in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 6–10 record, but lost the Eastern Semi-Final to the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Star quarterback Tom Clements was acquired from the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a mid-season trade and went on to lead the league in passing.[1] Additionally, University of Western Ontario quarterback Jamie Bone attended Tiger-Cats training camp but was cut. He took the Tiger-Cats to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, alleging that he was never given a fair chance to compete for a quarterback position because he was Canadian.[2] During the proceedings, the Tiger Cats admitted that they had made up their mind on who the starters would be. Bone won his case, and the tribunal awarded him $10,000.[2] The Tiger-Cats were awarded to give him a 14-day tryout in 1980.

Roster

1979 Hamilton Tiger-Cats roster
Quarterbacks  2 Tom Clements Mark Manges Dave Marler Running backs Jim Reid Ron Rowland Receivers John Holland WR Leif Pettersen WR Offensive linemen Larry Butler G		Defensive linemen Mark Sullivan DT Linebackers Bill Banks Calvin O'Neal Tom Poe Ben Zambiasi Defensive backs Steve Ackroyd DB Special teams Zenon Andrusyshyn K/P		Injured List 6-Game Injured List		Practice Roster Suspended Active, Injured, Six-Game, Practice Roster, Suspended

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Football Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Montreal Alouettes	16	11	4	1	351	284	23
Ottawa Rough Riders	16	8	6	2	349	315	18
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	16	6	10	0	280	338	12
Toronto Argonauts	16	5	11	0	234	352	10

[3]

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Final score	Record
1	July 11	at Ottawa Rough Riders	19–30	0–1
2	July 18	Toronto Argonauts	11–18	0–2
3	July 25	at Montreal Alouettes	24–20	1–2
4	Aug 1	Saskatchewan Roughriders	8–21	1–3
5	Aug 8	at Toronto Argonauts	0–25	1–4
6	Aug 14	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	21–27	1–5
7	Aug 21	BC Lions	16–22	1–6
8	Sept 3	Ottawa Rough Riders	16–9	2–6
9	Sept 8	at Ottawa Rough Riders	4–44	2–7
10	Sept 16	Montreal Alouettes	14–21	2–8
11	Sept 23	Edmonton Eskimos	21–22	2–9
12	Sept 29	at Toronto Argonauts	17–16	3–9
13	Oct 8	Toronto Argonauts	42–3	4–9
14	Oct 14	at Calgary Stampeders	26–16	5–9
15	Oct 21	Ottawa Rough Riders	21–3	6–9
17	Nov 5	at Montreal Alouettes	20–41	6–10

[4]

Post-season

Game	Date	Opponent	Final score
Eastern Semi-Final	Nov 11	at Ottawa Rough Riders	29–26

[4]

Awards and honours

• Tom Clements, All-Eastern Quarterback[5]
• Ben Zambiasi, Linebacker, CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award
• Garney Henley was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a Player, on June 30, 1979.[1]
• Peter Neumann was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a Player, June 30, 1979.[1]

References

1. "HISTORY - Hall of Fame - Hamilton Tiger-Cats". Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
2. Drake, Stephen (2009). Weird Facts about Canadian Football Strange, Wacky and Hilarious Stories. OverTime Books. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3.
3. 1979 Regular Season Standings | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League Archived June 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
4. 1979 Hamilton Tiger-Cats - The Pro Football Archives
5. "Hall of Fame: Tom Clements". Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 24, 2014.