Teams consider themselves lucky when they find a rookie QB who turns out to be a future Hall of Famer, but in 1975 Ottawa found two. Both Tom Clements and Conredge Holloway were rookies with the Rough Riders in 1975. The Riders had been casting about for a starting QB since the retirement of Russ Jackson in 1969 and the odds against a pair of rookies filling his shoes seemed remote, but they did. Clements was more of the "passing QB" and Holloway was the "running QB" and as a 1-2 punch, they were very hard to stop. Clements went on to win the Outstanding Rookie in the CFL for his 1975 season. Clements stayed in Ottawa for four seasons from 1975 to 1978, winning East All-Star honours in his first three seasons. Clements led Ottawa to the Grey Cup in 1976, with his last minute TD pass to TE Tony Gabriel to beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In a twist of fate, Clements was traded to those same Saskatchewan Roughriders in May of 1979 for DB Steve Dennis, SB Bob O'Doherty and a second round pick in the CFL college draft. Clements struggled in his 7 games in Saskatchewan, completing just 50.9% of his passes and throwing 11 interceptions to only 2 touchdowns. In September, Clements was traded to Hamilton for OT Laurie Skolrood and futures. Things went much better for Clements in Hamilton for the rest of the season, but in 1980 he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. Clements returned to Hamilton and the CFL in 1981 and had his best season yet. He completed 57.5% of his passes for 4536 yards and was named the Outstanding Player in the CFL. Strangely enough, he won only Eastern and not All-Canadian honours for that season. Clements had an even better 1982 season for Hamilton, for much less recognition. He completed an outstanding 65.2% of his passes for 4706 yards. Ten games into the 1983 season, Hamilton traded Clements to Winnipeg in September as a swap of Hall of Fame QBs as Dieter Brock came to Hamilton. Clements finished his career with Winnpeg, playing four more season with the Bombers from 1984 to 1987, and earning All-Canadian status in 1984. Tom Clements was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
Games Played and Passing
Year |
Team |
GP |
PA |
PC |
% |
Yds |
TD |
Int |
Sacked |
Yds |
1975 |
OTT |
16 |
252 |
144 |
57.1 |
2013 |
13 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1976 |
OTT |
16 |
327 |
196 |
59.9 |
2856 |
20 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1977 |
OTT |
16 |
298 |
182 |
61 |
2804 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
1978 |
OTT |
16 |
239 |
152 |
63.6 |
1990 |
17 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
1979 |
HAM |
8 |
211 |
130 |
61.6 |
1809 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1979 |
SASK |
7 |
159 |
81 |
50.9 |
994 |
2 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
1981 |
HAM |
16 |
523 |
301 |
57.5 |
4536 |
27 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
1982 |
HAM |
16 |
546 |
356 |
65.2 |
4706 |
26 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
1983 |
WPG |
3 |
60 |
30 |
50 |
424 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1983 |
HAM |
10 |
323 |
190 |
58.6 |
2416 |
19 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
1984 |
WPG |
16 |
446 |
279 |
62.6 |
3845 |
29 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
1985 |
WPG |
15 |
425 |
257 |
60.4 |
3697 |
18 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
1986 |
WPG |
9 |
256 |
173 |
67.5 |
2265 |
18 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
1987 |
WPG |
18 |
592 |
336 |
56.8 |
4686 |
35 |
30 |
0 |
0 |
Rushing
Year |
Team |
TC |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
Long |
1975 |
OTT |
28 |
87 |
3.1 |
0 |
13 |
1976 |
OTT |
37 |
260 |
7 |
4 |
30 |
1977 |
OTT |
59 |
356 |
6 |
1 |
39 |
1978 |
OTT |
32 |
159 |
5 |
0 |
20 |
1979 |
HAM |
22 |
145 |
6.6 |
1 |
21 |
1979 |
SASK |
22 |
101 |
4.6 |
0 |
18 |
1981 |
HAM |
32 |
175 |
5.6 |
1 |
26 |
1982 |
HAM |
34 |
137 |
4 |
2 |
42 |
1983 |
WPG |
8 |
13 |
1.6 |
0 |
7 |
1983 |
HAM |
12 |
18 |
1.5 |
0 |
8 |
1984 |
WPG |
27 |
101 |
3.7 |
1 |
15 |
1985 |
WPG |
11 |
16 |
1.5 |
1 |
17 |
1986 |
WPG |
19 |
48 |
2.5 |
0 |
12 |
1987 |
WPG |
31 |
44 |
1.4 |
2 |
8 |
Fumbles
Year |
Team |
F |
FL |
OFR |
1975 |
OTT |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1976 |
OTT |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1977 |
OTT |
8 |
5 |
0 |
1978 |
OTT |
6 |
4 |
3 |
1979 |
HAM |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1979 |
SASK |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1981 |
HAM |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1982 |
HAM |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1983 |
WPG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1983 |
HAM |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1984 |
WPG |
6 |
5 |
0 |
1985 |
WPG |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1986 |
WPG |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1987 |
WPG |
5 |
0 |
0 |
Clements had one punt return for zero yards in 1978.
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