Sitting in the stands at a Stamps’ game with his grandchildren is something Pat Clayton is looking forward to doing this year.

“It’s funny,” Clayton laughs. “(Stampeders Equipment Manager) George Hopkins and I had that discussion and I said, ‘You know, George, I’ve never watched a game from the stands. I don’t even know what that’s like!”

After 29 seasons as the director of medical services for the Calgary Stampeders, Clayton has decided to retire.  The native Calgarian first joined the Stamps in 1984 – hundreds of players, 10 Hall of Famers and four Grey Cups ago. Prior to that, he spent seven years as an athletic therapist for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, bringing his CFL experience to a grand total of 36 years.  He also spent several years as an instructor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at Queen’s University early in his career.

“I was spending time with my grandchildren over Christmas,” he says, “and I thought, ‘I need to spend more time with my grandchildren and with my family.’ It’s been 44 years since I’ve had a summer, and life is going to pass me by before everything is done. So I just decided it was the right time.”

Though he’s leaving the Stampeders, he isn’t retiring completely. He will still run his busy private orthopedic practice and continue to do things such as help out with the local high schools.

George Hopkins and Pat Clayton have worked together for nearly three decades.

Clayton takes many fond memories away with him from his time in red and white. He admits that he takes more pride in how he helped players stay healthy than in any of the accomplishments the team had on the field.

“The pure satisfaction of getting some of these athletes back out to play when they didn’t think that they’d ever play again,” he says. “A guy like Ken-Yon Rambo, who people thought would not play again, came back to play. Those types of things are important to me.

“This will seem like a strange comment, but winning and losing wasn’t as important to me as was the medical side of it, trying to keep these guys healthy,” Clayton continues. “Trying to keep them healthy for their lifetimes – that’s been my focus. It hasn’t been getting them ready for their next game; it’s getting them ready for their life after football as well.”

Over nearly three decades with the club, Clayton has undoubtedly developed life-long relationships with Stampeders staff, players and their families. Those friendships are what he will miss the most.

“George Hopkins and I have been together for many, many years,” he says. “I’m going to miss seeing him on a daily basis, but that friendship will endure. Most certainly some of the other people in the organization who I have been through a lot of things with, guys like Stan Schwartz. Some of the players that you develop relationships with and you know their families. Those relationships are the things that you miss.”

He went to eight Grey Cups as a Stampeder, winning four. Pat says all Grey Cups are special in their own way, but he particularly remembers the feeling of winning it in 1992. Clayton says it stands out because it had been such a long period of time  — 21 years — since Calgary had last won it.

“Those are special because of what they represent to the organization and to the people,” he says.

When asked what he will miss the least, he said it would no doubt be the huge time commitment that comes with the job. For seven months straight each year, he worked 12-hour days, seven days a week. And what about when the grind of training camp gets under way on May 29?

“Nobody misses training camp,” he laughs.

He certainly won’t miss camp. But the Stamps organization will surely miss him. 

Clayton’s Career Highlights

• Instructor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at Queen’s University
• Head therapist for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Head therapist with the Calgary Stampeder Football Club
• Consultant to Hockey Canada, the Western Hockey League and the Glencoe Club
• On the safety committee for the CFL Players’ Association
• Canadian Wheelchair Games (1972)
• Olympiad for the Disabled (1972)
• World University Games (1973)
• CFL All-Star Game (1974, 1983)
• Olympic Summer Games (1976)
• Olympic Winter Games (1988)
• Pan American Games (1995)
• IIHF World Championship (2001, 2003)
• Spengler Cup (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006)
• Loto Cup (2003-2005)
• Rotary Club Integrity Award (2005)
• Rotary Club International Paul Harris Fellowship Award (2006)
• Alberta Centennial Award recipient (2006)
• Canadian Athletic Therapists Association Hall of Fame (2009)
• Calgary Booster Club’s recipient of the Athletic Leader Award (2010)
• Appointed to the CFL’s media committee (2012)