Rare video of a weird 90s CFL matchup between the Riders and the short-lived Baltimore Stallions

The CFL in the 1990s was a bit weird and interesting at the same time.

Weird, in that teams from Texas, Alabama and Baltimore were playing in the Canadian football league. And interesting because it made for some good games.

It was also a bit frustrating for Riders fans because at the time, many games were not available to watch on TV. So, you only saw many games if you managed to have a ticket for home contests at Taylor Field, and maybe three or four road games that might have been televised.

Fans would see highlights of untelevised games on their local news and sportscasts, which would send a camera to get footage and post game comments.

And CTV Saskatoon has found some rare footage of a few games from that era, including one at Taylor Field between the Riders and the Baltimore Stallions.

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Schedules from the time show the game was broadcast on ESPN-2 in the United States, but no Canadian TV network was broadcasting the game. That meant fans north of the border only saw this one if they were there.

A crowd of over 30,000 was on hand for the September match-up, which was a see-saw battle that saw a couple of lead changes, and some big plays from both teams.

The Roughriders proved they could compete against a team made up entirely of American players, as they were leading by one heading into the fourth quarter.

But late in the game, Baltimore Quarterback Tracy Ham went on a 45-yard run into the endzone to give the Stallions the lead.

The Roughriders lost a heartbreaker 28-24.

Saskatchewan missed the playoffs that season, but showed they could compete with the best American team in the CFL.

The Stallions went on to win the Grey Cup on that very turf in Regina later that year.