Anyone More Important to the Argos or CFL over the last 27 Years than "Pinball"?

[1971GreyCup]

PINBALL: REPRESENTING CANADA ‘SENTIMENTALLY SACRED’
3DOWNNATION
Chris O'Leary

Seventeen years after retiring as a player, the accolades continue to pile up for Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons. That doesn’t mean he gets used to them.

Upon learning that the Toronto Argonauts had selected him as the player they’d honour Canada Day weekend with a t-shirt, Clemons said he felt honoured and overwhelmed.

“Fundamentally flawed but sentimentally sacred,” he says of the distinction.

“Football is a game, more than any other game I know of, where you don’t do anything by yourself. With that, trying to look at one person, or even five people or 10 people to represent a team a brand, it’s a physical impossibility to accurately represent any portion of that.

“It’s awkward but I appreciate it. At the same time for me, I hope (the name) represents every player that loved and was passionate about this organization. That it represents every fan that cheered, for 50 years or for five minutes; that it represents all of those in the organization like the Ian Sandersons (the Argos director of football operations who has been with the team 26 years). The Danny Webbs in the equipment room that worked so diligently and have been with us so long and were so loyal and don’t get the credit. All of those coaches who gave their time. For me, it’s my hope that this is symbolic, not ceremonial.

“We are celebrating who we are as a team, as a franchise, as a part of our great league and not the individual. So I am again, overwhelmed at the thought and the sentiment but also embarrassed to represent all of who we are.”

“I’D LIKE TO SAY THAT I SPEAK UP FOR CANADA BUT THE REALITY IS CANADA, OUR GREAT NATION, SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. CANADIAN CULTURE, CANADIAN SOCIETY, ALL THAT WE ARE PRESENTS ITSELF JUST FINE. IT DOESN’T NEED HELP FROM PINBALL.”

PINBALL CLEMONS


MICHAEL ‘PINBALL’ CLEMONS RUNS ON THE FIELD BEFORE A GAME AT BMO IN TORONTO (DAVID CHIDLEY/CFL.CA)

Clemons is that rare person who, seventeen years after hanging up his cleats, remains the face of the team he played so well for. He’s a hall of famer as a player, he’s coached the Argos, served as team president and has sat as the team’s vice chair now for the last eight years.

He’s long said that he’s an American by birth and a Canadian by choice. Born in Dunedin, Fla., Clemons has lived in Canada for the last 28 years and has said for many of them that he felt more Canadian than he did American. He made it official two years ago, when he and his wife, Diane, became Canadian citizens.

“Who I am, the way I live, my thought processes, how I engage, all of those things have been predominantly Canadian for a long, long time,” he says. “I heard someone effectively say it’s like the U.S. is my mom. She gave me birth, I was born there, but now I live with my wife. My wife and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary and it really is very similar to that.

“That doesn’t mean I still don’t love my mom, but I live with my wife.”

Clemons has traveled across the country as a motivational speaker, and he routinely speaks with the Argos at the start of their seasons. He doesn’t have a cut-and-paste speech each year, but he does make sure he instills the significance of the Argos’ history; that the team was founded in 1873 and is the oldest existing pro sports team in North America still using its original name.

He doesn’t try to tell the American rookies in the room what to expect from Canada. If football is too much of a team game to give any one man all of the credit, a country is too big and varied to try to encapsulate its experience.

“The Canadiana has a little bit of life of its own. It’s easier for people to see it than for me to tell them,” he says.

“I’d like to say that I speak up for Canada but the reality is Canada, our great nation, speaks for itself. Canadian culture, Canadian society, all that we are presents itself just fine. It doesn’t need help from Pinball.”

[Jon Gonzo]

No. 17 years after retiring, he still gets more press than the team he used to star on.

[mchesher03]

no and it's not even close. The fact you still see pinner jerseys what 17 years after he's suited up says it all.

[Will]

Pinball is arguably the most important player/coach/executive in team history let alone the last 27 years.

[Argos1983]

There is no Argo who has embraced this country and this city with more affection than Pinball (at least in in my lifetime and I go back to the 70s watching Argos Football) --- I have searched out for as many vintage Clemons jerseys as I could find over the last little while just to add to the collection, and that's long after his retirement.....I have met him countless times and have always been met with a hug like we were old friends - in fact (funny story) he almost hit my car at the corn roast a few years back (we were driving extremely slowly on both our parts mind you so I doubt much would have happened) and he stopped the car right away (my wife jokingly screamed "you almost got hit by Pinball!"), he ran out of his car to see that nothing happened and that my family was ok, and I couldn't help but run into another Pinner embrace as we both laughed at the almost fender bender -- that is the only time I have hugged someone who almost hit my car I can tell you that!)....I have honestly never met anyone who is as genuinely happy and upbeat as this man is.....there is an old saying about "never wanting to meet your heroes as they will inevitably disappoint you"....I can honestly say Pinball became one of my heroes AFTER meeting with him countless times at various Argos functions.....I have yet to meet one person who has ever had a bad word to say about the man, and that is saying something about his legacy in this city, and in this country (and in the CFL itself).....

[matchuk]

There is no Argo who has embraced this country and this city with more affection than Pinball (at least in in my lifetime and I go back to the 70s watching Argos Football) --- I have searched out for as many vintage Clemons jerseys as I could find over the last little while just to add to the collection, and that's long after his retirement.....I have met him countless times and have always been met with a hug like we were old friends - in fact (funny story) he almost hit my car at the corn roast a few years back (we were driving extremely slowly on both our parts mind you so I doubt much would have happened) and he stopped the car right away (my wife jokingly screamed "you almost got hit by Pinball!"), he ran out of his car to see that nothing happened and that my family was ok, and I couldn't help but run into another Pinner embrace as we both laughed at the almost fender bender -- that is the only time I have hugged someone who almost hit my car I can tell you that!)....I have honestly never met someone who is as genuinely happy and upbeat as this man is.....there is an old saying about "never wanting to meet your heroes as they will inevitably disappoint you"....I can honestly say Pinball became one of my heroes AFTER meeting with him countless times at various Argos functions.....I have yet to meet one person who has ever had a bad word to say about the man, and that is saying something about his legacy in this city, and in this country (and in the CFL itself).....

Agreed. Just an amazing person...and that doesn't even take his football career into account! I first met him in elementary school, don't even remember what age/grade, but that is when I fell in love with the CFL and Pinball! He had a huge impact on me...and years later...I have had season tickets now for 16 years, and bring my young kids to games most times (unless I want to actually watch the game!).

[ArgoGabe22]

I was at Ivor Wynne once and Pinball was driving by the ticket booth looking for a place to park. He couldn't move his car because even the Hamilton fans respected him and wanted to have a chat with him. It was all friendly too.

[ArgoGabe22]

Also, Zeke O'Connor has a pretty good story. Coming from the US, staying in Toronto and doing a lot of charitable work.