04/24/24
April 03, 2008
CFL Hall confirms class of 2008: Professional football's most dynamic special-teams star is headed to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. It's taken nearly eight years, but Mike (Pinball) Clemons can finally call himself a Hall of Famer. The five-foot-five native of Clearwater, Fla., truly excelled in a big man's game. He holds the pro football record for single-season all-purpose yards (3,840, set in '97) as well as the career mark (25,438). He captured three Grey Cup titles as a player ('91, '96 and '97) and another as a coach in '04, becoming the first black head coach ever to win the CFL championship. A Heisman Trophy winner while at Boston College, Doug Flutie still holds CFL single-season records for completions (466), yards (6,619) and touchdowns (48) and in 2006 was voted the top player in league history. Last year, he was inducted into both the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (the first non-Canadian to do so) and the U.S. College Football Hall of Fame. CFL rushing leader Mike Pringle and all-star offensive lineman John Bonk were also among the players named to the Hall on Wednesday while former Saskatchewan Roughriders president Tom Shepherd will be enshrined as a builder at ceremony in September.
posted by tommytrump to football at 10:46 AM - 7 comments
The A/V room at sportsnet.ca has the acceptance speeches of Pinball and Pringle. Don't think Clemons is one of the nicest guys in pro sports? Watch the clip (CFL honors 2 great RBs)!
posted by Spitztengle at 01:41 PM on April 03, 2008
I see a common attribute between Clemons and Flutie; both were considered "too small" to play in the NFL. Why NFL coaches and personnel directors refuse to look beyond a player's size and fail to recognize the possibility of excellence has always been a mystery to me.
posted by Howard_T at 04:00 PM on April 03, 2008
"I'm just a guy who loved the game. I just loved to play, man. I love it. That's all I was. I wasn't that fancy. I just loved to play. And I want to thank you for this opportunity to just play the game." - Pinball Clemons
posted by grum@work at 06:57 PM on April 03, 2008
is henry "the gizmo" williams in the cfl hof?
posted by ajaffe at 06:54 PM on April 04, 2008
is henry "the gizmo" williams in the cfl hof? Yes.
posted by Spitztengle at 08:29 PM on April 04, 2008
thanks. i seem to recall that in 1987 or so, he had something like seven returns for touchdowns and for each one he claimed a peach-colored jacket from the CBC broadcast team. Some correct me on this if I'm completely deluded.
posted by ajaffe at 05:34 PM on April 05, 2008
It was overdue for Pinball Clemons, and it (probably literally) couldn't happen to a nicer guy.