(Mississauga, ON) At each Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League Players’ Association has the honour of presenting the Tom Pate Award. It is an award presented not just for one’s ability to perform on the field, but rather it is an award given to a player who also displays qualities that distinguish them from their peers off the field as well.
Tom Pate had a unique combination of outstanding sportsmanship, dedication and sense of community. He was educated at the University of Nebraska where he majored in business administration while playing for the Cornhuskers. He joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1975 and as a rookie played 14 regular season games. In October 1975, his life was abruptly ended, when in his fourteenth game against the Stampeders in Calgary, he suffered an aneurysm in the fourth quarter. Pate, only 23 at the time, never regained consciousness and passed away just two days later.
Each year, the current CFLPA membership across the league select a teammate to be nominated for this award and represent their respective team. The recipient embodies the qualities that distinguished Tom Pate; qualities that recognize a Player with outstanding sportsmanship, a Player who has made a contribution to his team as well as to his community and to his Association. From the 9 Team nominees, one individual member is selected to receive the honour of being awarded the winner of the Tom Pate Award for that season.
It is with great honour, we announce the nominees for the 2017 Tom Pate Award as selected by their peers:
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Source: CFL.ca
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