Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
MISSISSAUGA — Every year at Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League Players’ Association presents the Tom Pate Award. It is not an award presented on one’s ability to perform on the field, but rather it is an award given to players who display qualities that distinguish them from their peers off the field as well.
Tom Pate had a unique combination of outstanding sportsmanship and dedication to the league and the community. He was educated at the University of Nebraska where he majored in business administration, and played first-stringer with the Cornhuskers. After shuffling through various teams, he became a star with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In October 1975, however, his stardom as well as 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 died just two days later.
Each year, Players on all 9 teams choose a teammate to win 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 winners, the CFLPA chooses one special Player to be awarded as its Tom Pate Award winner.
The 2017 Team Tom Pate Team winners are:
| Team | Player |
| Montreal Alouettes | Stephen Adekolu (WR) |
| Ottawa REDBLACKS | Alex Mateas (C) |
| Toronto Argonauts | Jamal Campbell (OL) |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Courtney Stephen (DB) |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Chris Randle (DB) |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | Makana Henry (DL) |
| Calgary Stampeders | Josh Bell (DB) |
| Edmonton Eskimos | Adarius Bowman (SB) |
| BC Lions | Emmanuel Arceneaux (SB) |
The Winner of this year’s Tom Pate Award will be announced at Grey Cup with all other CFL Shaw Awards on Thursday, November 23, 2017.
