The 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season was the 52nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 77th overall. The Blue Bombers were in the playoff hunt until the last game of the season, at home, against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but lost the game and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2005, finishing the season with a disappointing 7–11 record.

Off-season On February 18, Milt Stegall announced his retirement from the Blue Bombers.

New coach Mike Kelly made many roster moves to re-shape the team that lost the 95th Grey Cup in 2007 and slid to an 8 win and 10 loss record in the 2008 season.

CFL draft The 2009 CFL draft took place on May 2, 2009. Due to trades, the Blue Bombers did not have a selection until the third round, when they chose lineman Mike Morris from UBC.

Round Pick Player Position School/Club team 3 19 Mike Morris OL UBC 4 27 Adam Bestard OL Wilfrid Laurier 5 35 Peter Quinney FB Wilfrid Laurier 6 45 Thaine Carter LB Queen's

Notable transactions On February 18, Riall Johnson was acquired by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, from the Toronto Argonauts for import middle linebacker Zeke Moreno and a conditional draft pick.

Pre-season Date Opponent Score Result June 17 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32–22 Win June 24 @ Montreal Alouettes 31–27 Loss

Regular season

Division standings

Season schedule Week Date Opponent Score Result Attendance Record 1 July 2 at Edmonton Eskimos 19–17 Loss 30,650 0–1 2 July 10 Calgary Stampeders 42–30 Win 29,533 1–1 3 July 18 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats 25–13 Loss 24,292 1–2 4 July 24 Toronto Argonauts 19–5 Loss 28,466 1–3 5 August 1 at Toronto Argonauts 13–12 Win 23,821 2–3 6 August 8 at Calgary Stampeders 31–23 Loss 35,650 2–4 7 August 15 Montreal Alouettes 39–12 Loss 25,053 2–5 8 August 21 at BC Lions 37–10 Win 27,983 3–5 9 Bye 10 Sept 6 at Saskatchewan Roughriders 29–14 Loss 30,945 3–6 11 Sept 13 Saskatchewan Roughriders 55–10 Loss 29,533 3–7 12 Sept 20 at Montreal Alouettes 33–14 Loss 20,202 3–8 13 Sept 26 Toronto Argonauts 29–24 Win 22,446 4–8 14 Oct 2 Edmonton Eskimos 27–17 Win 21,965 5–8 15 Oct 12 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats 38–28 Win 19,562 6–8 16 Oct 18 BC Lions 24–21 Loss 24,048 6–9 17 Oct 24 Montreal Alouettes 41–24 Win 21,378 7–9 18 Nov 1 at Montreal Alouettes 48–13 Loss 20,202 7–10 19 Nov 8 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39–17 Loss 29,038 7–11

Roster 2009 Winnipeg Blue Bombers final roster Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers

Offensive linemen G/C G/T T C G T

Defensive linemen DT DE DT DT DT DE DE Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams LS K/P P

Reserve roster WR LB DT

Practice roster G QB C RB WR DE T DBInjured list WR SB G WR DB DB QB P DE DE

Suspended DT

Italics indicate International player

Statistics

Offence

Passing Player Att Comp % Yards TD INT Rating Michael Bishop 404 204 50.5 3035 15 19 68.3 Stefan LeFors 88 41 46.6 459 2 2 60.8 Bryan Randall 20 6 30.0 58 0 4 (−44.2) Richie Williams 10 3 30.0 30 0 1 39.6 Casey Bramlet 14 2 14.3 18 0 3 (−70.0)

Rushing Player Att Yards Avg. TD Fumbles Fred Reid 238 1371 5.8 7 2 Yvenson Bernard 53 336 6.3 0 4 Brock Ralph 22 135 6.1 0 2 Michael Bishop 19 84 4.4 0 6 Stefan LeFors 15 68 4.5 0 2 Lavarus Giles 14 54 3.9 2 0 Mike Renaud 1 25 25 0 0 Ricky Santos 7 24 3.4 1 0 Bryan Randall 4 23 5.8 0 0 Romby Bryant 4 12 3.0 0 1 Richie Williams 2 9 4.5 0 0 Gavin Walls 1 9 9.0 0 0 Jon Oosterhuis 1 0 0.0 0 0

Receiving Player No. Yards Avg. Long TD Adarius Bowman 55 925 16.8 55 6 Terrence Edwards 52 816 15.7 57 5 Brock Ralph 43 559 13.0 32 2 Titus Ryan 8 285 35.6 65 3 Romby Bryant 20 232 11.6 36 0 Otis Amey 18 188 10.4 47 0 Fred Reid 21 157 7.5 24 1 Yvenson Bernard 17 153 9.0 29 0 Aaron Hargreaves 14 142 10.1 17 0 Dudley Guice, Jr. 6 76 12.7 33 0 Arjei Franklin 5 53 10.6 18 0 Jon Oosterhuis 4 41 10.3 19 0 Craphonso Thorpe 2 27 13.5 14 0 Steve Morley 1 8 8.0 8 0 Riall Johnson 1 8 8.0 8 0 Daryl Stephenson 1 1 1.0 1 0

Playoffs The Blue Bombers finished third in the East Division with a record of 7 wins and 11 losses. The BC Lions, who finished fourth in the West, had a better record of 8 wins and 10 losses, and under the cross-over rule eliminated Winnipeg from the playoffs. The Lions went on to play the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semi-final at Ivor Wynne Stadium, winning 34-27 in overtime before losing to the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal in the East Final.

References