The 69th Grey Cup was played on November 22, 1981, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec in front of 52,487 fans. The 1981 Grey Cup game is considered to be one of the ten best Grey Cup games of all time. CFL football fans saw an unexpectedly exciting game, as the 22.5 point underdog Ottawa Rough Riders, sporting a woeful record of 5 wins and 11 losses, came within 3 seconds of denying the Edmonton Eskimos. The Esks, with a 14-1-1 record, were almost the victims of what would have been the biggest upset in the history of the Grey Cup.