"We won this for British Columbia, we won it for the city of Vancouver, we won it for Canada," B.C. lineman Ian Sinclair said after the win Sunday. "We heard about the American-Canadian thing all week, and a lot of it on the field."
Baltimore was the first U.S. team to reach the CFL championship game. The Lions were the first team to win the Grey Cup at home since Montreal in 1977.
The 40-year-old Passaglia, who in 19 years in the CFL became the league's all-time leading scorer, missed a 37-yarder with 67 seconds left, but Baltimore regained the ball on its own two-yard line and was forced to punt after a short run and an incomplete pass by Tracy Ham.
"I got a chance at redemption having missed one just before that," said Passaglia, a Vancouver native. "There was tremendous pressure on us all week. We could feel it."
It was the third Grey Cup championship for the Lions, while the miracle run by expansion Baltimore, which has no nickname other than "CFLers," finally came to an end.
The team was blocked by a lawsuit from adopting the name "Colts" in memory of the historic National Football League franchise that moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis. Baltimore joined the CFL this season along with Shreveport and Las Vegas, and was one of four U.S. teams to compete in the league.
Baltimore took a 20-10 lead 4:34 into the second half when Donald Igwebuike kicked a 26-yard field goal, but B.C. stormed back behind Danny McManus, who replaced injured Kent Austin late in the first half.
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