Pinball Clemons

Michael "Pinball" Clemons
Date of birth:	January 15 1965 (1965-01-15) (age 43)
Place of birth:	Dunedin, Florida, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight:	170 lb (77 kg)
Status:	retired player, now CEO
Position(s):	Running back
Jersey #:
CFL status:	Import
College:	College of William and Mary
NFL Draft:	1987 / Round: 8 / Pick: 218
Team(s) as player
1987 1989-2000	Kansas City Chiefs Toronto Argonauts
Career highlights and Awards
CFL All-Star	1990, 1997
Awards	1990 Jeff Russel Trophy 1990 CFL MOP 1993 Tom Pate Award 1996 Tom Pate Award
Retired #s	31
Records	CFL Most Combined Yards, All-Time Regular Season: 25,438[1] CFL Most Combined Yards, Regular Season: 3,840 (1997)[1]

Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons, O.Ont (born January 15, 1965 in Dunedin, Florida, U.S.) is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Clemons' #31 jersey is one of only four that has been retired by the Argos. He is one of their most famous former players and also one of the most popular professional athletes in the history of Toronto. Clemons graduated from the College of William and Mary where he played running back and return specialist on the football team, as well as playing soccer for a year. He played with the Argos for twelve seasons, and twice served as their head coach. Clemons is 5'6" (167 cm) tall and weighs 170 pounds (77 kg). When Clemons first joined the Argonauts in 1989, head coach Bob O'Billovich nicknamed him "Pinball" because of his running style. His diminutive size and extraordinary balance allowed him to bounce between defensive players much like a pinball inside a pinball machine. During home games, The Who song Pinball Wizard would play on the P.A. whenever Pinball was involved in a great play. Since becoming a coach, his nickname has been shortened to "Pinner" by his players.

Coaching career

Clemons became head coach of the Toronto Argonauts upon ending his playing career on September 15, 2000. In November, 2001, he was promoted to president of the Argonauts & relinquished his role as head coach in the process to Gary Etcheverry. When Etcheverry was fired as head coach on September 17, 2002, Clemons returned as head coach on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2002 CFL season. Clemons was officially given the head coaching job again on December 17, 2002, while also relinquishing his role as team president. Clemons has been nominated for the Annis Stukus Trophy (awarded to the CFL's coach of the year) for five straight years (between 2002 and 2006) and has come up short all five times. He also became the first black head coach to win the Grey Cup in 2004, and the second ever to have guided his team to a pro-football championship in North America. (Darren Arbet of the San Jose SaberCats was the first to do so in 2002 with an ArenaBowl XVI victory.) Clemons has the second most head coaching wins in Argonauts history with 68. Bob O'Billovich is first with 89. Clemons' record is 68-55-1 in the regular season , and a 6-5 playoff record (including 1-0 in Grey Cup games). On December 4, 2007, Clemons stepped down as head coach of the Argonauts to become their new Chief Executive Officer.

Pinball, the person

Pinball is a devout Christian and is a frequent public speaker on community and Christianity. He is also a partner of the children's brand Simply Kids®, a line of diapers, baby food and healthcare products found in supermarkets across Canada and the United States. Currently, Clemons resides in Oakville, Ontario with his wife, Diane (a native Floridian), and three daughters (who were all born in Canada) as a permanent resident of Canada. Clemons has described himself (borrowing a quote from C.D. Howe) as an "American by birth but Canadian by choice".[1] It has been suggested that Clemons has remained an American citizen to rebuff any calls for him to run for political office, such as for mayor of Toronto [2]. Clemons was the subject of Pinball: The Making of a Canadian Hero (ISBN 978-0-470-83690-3) a biography written by Perry Lefko published in 2006. [3] In April, 2007 he visited Calderstone Middle School in Brampton to help start a reading program. [4] On August 21, 2007, Clemons founded the "Michael 'Pinball' Clemons Foundation" which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth.

Achievements

• Record for career all-purpose yardage (25,402)^[1]
• Record for single-season all-purpose yardage (3,840)^[1]
• Recorded over 5,000 career yards in rushing (5,232), pass receptions (7,015), kickoff returns (6,349), and punt returns (6,025)
• Argonauts team records for career pass receptions (682), punt return yards (6,025), punt returns (610), punt return touchdowns (8), kickoff return yards (6,349), and kickoff returns (300)
• Argonauts team records for single-season punt return yards (1,070), punt returns (111), and kickoff returns (49)
• Argonauts team record for single-game kickoff returns (8)
• CFL most outstanding player (1990)
• Three-time Grey Cup champion as a player (1991, 1996, 1997)
• One-time Grey Cup champion as a head coach (2004)
• Two-time CFL All-Star (1990, 1997)
• Two-time Tom Pate Award winner (1993, 1996)
• One-time Eastern Division Most Oustanding Player Trophy winner (1990)
• Four-time Eastern Division All-Star (1990, 1993, 1994, 1997)
• Order of Ontario (2001)
• Voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#31) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

References

External links

• Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation website
• Official Argonauts.ca Page
• DatabaseFootball.com stats
• Q & A with Pinball Clemons for Now Magazine (July 12-18, 2007)
• Video clip of Pinball delivering a speech on successful thinking at YouTube
• Pinball delivering a motivational speech on teamwork at YouTube
• Football, Faith and Pinball (an interview by the National Post with Pinball & his mother) at YouTube
• Pinball demonstrating how to throw a football at YouTube