Clements on his way back to Ottawa for Gee-Gees event
1976 Grey Cup hero’s first appearance in capital in more than three decades
One of Ottawa’s football heroes is coming back — finally.
Former Rough Riders quarterback Tom Clements, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the 1976 Grey Cup, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Ottawa Gee- Gees Touchdown Dinner at the NAC’s Canada Room on April 28.
His last trip to Ottawa would have been as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 26, 1987, when the Rough Riders got crushed 36-13. Later that year, Clements was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.
Talking Clements into being at the Touchdown Dinner is a big get, and he’s excited about returning to the nation’s capital.
“It’s been a while,” said Clements, who stepped away from his assistant coaching job with the National Football League’s Green Bay Packers a year ago and now works for a California real estate firm.
“I think it’ll be fun. I’ll get to see a lot of guys I haven’t seen in a long time. I always enjoyed Ottawa.
“I haven’t been able to make any reunions because of my involvement with coaching. There hasn’t been a lot of communication, it’s unfortunate. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting back in April and seeing some people. It didn’t take much convincing. It’s a long flight, but, once I considered it … I’m looking forward to it.”
Clements will join Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, a University of Ottawa alumnus, as honorary governors of the uOttawa 1881 Football Alumni Association.
A two-time Grey Cup champion — he also won with the 1984 Blue Bombers — Clements spent 11 seasons in the CFL, also playing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
Gee-Gees alumni Jeff Avery, Tim Berryman, Doug Falconer and Mike Murphy were teammates of Clements from 1975-78 seasons with the Rough Riders.
In his time with the Ticats, he suited up alongside Linden Davidson, Rocky DiPietro, Bill Harrison, Neil Lumsden and Alan Moffat, one of the 2018 inductees to the Gee- Gees Hall of Fame.
Clements began his coaching career at his alma mater, Notre Dame, and made the jump to the NFL as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints in 1997.
After subsequent stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills, he was the quarterbacks coach for the Packers when they won Super Bowl XLV in 2011.
Clements said he looked back fondly at his CFL days.
“The rules made for a wide-open offensive type of game,” he said. “It was a fun game to watch and a fun game to play for a quarterback.”
And what does Clements remember about 1976, when his touchdown pass fell into the hands of Tony Gabriel in the dying seconds of the Grey Cup game against Saskatchewan?
Ottawa would wait 40 years for another Grey Cup, until the Redblacks brought one home in 2016.
“Any time you can win a championship, that’s great,” said Clements, now 64.
“That’s why you play a team sport. We were underdogs, so we were kind of loose going into the game. I think our defence kept us in the game. They played well throughout.”
While he spent so many years with the Packers, Clements admits he has a soft spot for the Steelers.
“I grew up a Steelers fan, I’m from Pittsburgh,” he said. “We had season tickets. My dad and I used to go. I’ve always liked the Steelers, but I enjoy watching any good game.”
After leaving the Packers early in 2017, Clements began working for Cal Coast Development, a real estate company owned by old friend Ed Miller.
“It’s different. I’m using a bit of my legal background working on some of the things we work on,” Clements said. “Obviously, it’s not as hectic. “The schedule for a coach during a season is very long and hard. People always ask me about it, I say, ‘I miss the money, but I don’t miss anything Monday to Saturday. This is a more of a 9-5 type of thing, with the weekends off. My wife’s had a business here for about the past 10 years. She commuted back and forth to Green Bay when I was coaching. I’d come out here when I had time off.
“Both of our kids live out here. I spent a fair amount of time here the past 10 years or so, but now it’s full-time.”