Pinball Clemons

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Michael "Pinball" Clemons
Date of birth	January 15, 1965
Place of birth	Dunedin, Florida
Position(s)	Running back
College	The College of William and Mary
NFL Draft	1987 / Round 8 / Pick 218
Career Highlights
CFL All-Star	1990, 1997
Awards	1990 Jeff Russel Trophy 1990 CFL MOP 1993 Tom Pate Award 1996 Tom Pate Award
Team(s)
1987 1989-2000	Kansas City Chiefs Toronto Argonauts

Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons, O.Ont (born January 15, 1965 in Dunedin, Florida, USA) is the current head coach of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He is also one of their most famous former players.

Clemons graduated from the College of William and Mary and then played as a running back for twelve seasons with the Argos, and has been their head coach since December 17, 2002. 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 offensive style. His diminutive size and extraordinary balance allowed him to bounce between defensive players much like a pinball inside a pinball machine.

Contents 1 Coaching career 2 Pinball, the person 3 Trivia 4 Achievements 5 External links

[edit] 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.

Clemons returned officially as head coach of the Argonauts on December 17, 2002 after taking over as interim coach for the second half of the 2002 season. 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. (Darren Arbet of the San Jose SaberCats was the first to do so in 2002 with an ArenaBowl XVI victory.)

Currently, Clemons has the second most head coaching wins in Argonauts history with 57. Bob O'Billovich is first with 89.

[edit] Pinball, the person

Clemons 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] Clemons has made plans with his wife for them both to become Canadian citizens on July 1st, 2007… Canada Day. [2]

[edit] Trivia

• During a live radio interview via cell phone on September 28, 2005, Clemons was stopped by the police for driving without a seatbelt. Not muffling the phone, he dealt with the police officer live on the radio.
• In addition to playing four years of football with the College of William and Mary, he also played a year on their soccer team.
• His nick name has evolved, as a November 2006 Toronto CFTO Television report chronicled, Pinball is increasingly called "Pinner" by players.
• Pinball is a devout Christian.
• Appeared on an Episode of "Full Contact Fishing" and spilled a full can of Pepsi on a new bass boat.

[edit] Achievements

• Record for career all-purpose yardage (25,402)
• Record for single-season all-purpose yardage (3,840)
• 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)

Preceded by Tracy Ham	CFL MOP 1990	Succeeded by Doug Flutie
Preceded by John Huard	Toronto Argonauts Head Coaches 2000-2001	Succeeded by Gary Etcheverry
Preceded by Gary Etcheverry	Toronto Argonauts Head Coaches 2002-	Succeeded by incumbent

[edit] External links

• Official Argonauts.ca Page
• Pinball delivering a motivational speech on teamwork at YouTube
• Pinball delivering a dressing room speech prior to the 2004 Grey Cup at YouTube