Tom Clements

Infobox NFLretired


Color=#213D30
fontcolor=#FFCC00
|caption=
width=
position=Quarterback
number=2
birthdate=birth date and age|1956|6|11
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
deathdate=
debutyear=1975
finalyear=1987
college=Notre Dame
teams= Playing career
* Ottawa Rough Riders (1975-1978)
* Saskatchewan Roughriders (1979)
* Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1979)
* Kansas City Chiefs (1980)
* Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1981-1982)
* Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1983-1987)Coaching career
* Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1992-1995)
* New Orleans Saints (1997-1999)
* Kansas City Chiefs (2000)
* Pittsburgh Steelers (2001-2004)
* Buffalo Bills (2004-2005)
* Green Bay Packers (2006-present)
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=252-214 (CFL only)
stat2label=Yards
stat2value=39,041 (CFL only)
stat3label=Completion %
stat3value=60.3 (CFL only)
nfl=CLE316408
highlights=
* 2x Grey Cup champion
* 7x CFL divisional all-star
* CFL's Rookie of the Year (1975)
* CFL's MVP (1987)
CFHOF=24&player=Clements,%20Tom

Thomas Albert Clements (born June 18, 1953, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania) was a Canadian Football League quarterback. Currently, he is the quarterbacks coach of the National Football League’s Green Bay Packers.

College career

Clements was the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame football team from 1972 to 1974 and led the team to a national championship in 1973. In 1974, Clements finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy and was voted a first-team All-American.

Pro playing career

Upon graduation, Clements began a career in the Canadian Football League, quarterbacking the Ottawa Rough Riders for four seasons and winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award in his inaugural campaign. The next season he helped to lead the team to what became the Rough Riders' last Grey Cup victory. After taking a powerful hit, a woozy Clements threw a pass to tight-end Tony Gabriel in the end zone, a catch which became famous, in defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders.fact|date=September 2008

During his time with Ottawa Clements shared the passing duties with Condredge Holloway, from 1975 to 1977 as the quarterback getting the most playing time. In 1978 their stats were comparable, except for Holloway throwing only two interceptions to 12 by Clements.fact|date=September 2008

Clements continued his career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1979, but did not fare well, throwing only two touchdowns to 11 interceptions and being replaced by Danny Sanders. However a trade to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats quickly rejuvenated Clements and he led the CFL in passing yards with 2,803, the last to do so with less than 3,000 yards.fact|date=September 2008 In 1980, Clements was briefly on the roster of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, coached by former Montreal Alouette head coach Marv Levy, but was the third string quarterback for a team that stressed the running game. In 1981 Clements returned to the Tiger-Cats and threw for 4,536 yards. He bested his numbers the next season with 4,706 yards. In 1983 Clements was traded from Hamilton to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for long-time Blue Bomber quarterback Dieter Brock. The next year those two teams, Hamilton and Winnipeg, faced each other in the Grey Cup. Clements led the Bombers to their first Grey Cup victory since 1962. In 1986 he set a new completion percentage record with 67.5, 173 out of 256. Clements finished his playing career with Winnipeg in 1987 and was also named the league's Most Outstanding Player. He finished his CFL career with over 39,000 passing yards, 252 passing touchdowns and a 60.35 completion percentage. In 2005, for the 75th anniversary of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Clements was selected one of the Bombers 20 all-time great players. In addition, in November, 2006, he was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#47) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

Post playing career

While still in the CFL, Clements pursued a Juris Doctor degree, finally graduating magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame School of Law in 1986, and, upon the completion of his playing career, he practiced law in Chicago for five years. In 1992, Clements was hired as quarterbacks coach for Notre Dame, where he served until 1995 under head coach Lou Holtz. After again practicing law in 1996, Clements took his first NFL job, working as the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999. Clements would hold the same job in 2000 with the Kansas City Chiefs and between 2001 and 2003 with the Pittsburgh Steelers; under Clements’s tutelage, the Chiefs’ Elvis Grbac (in 2000) and the Steelers’ Kordell Stewart (in 2001) and Tommy Maddox (in 2002) each reached the Pro Bowl.

In 2004 and 2005, Clements served as offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, but was released by the team after a front-office shakeup in which Marv Levy, his coach with the Chiefs in 1980, assumed the position of general manager and ultimately installed Dick Jauron as the team’s new head coach. Upon the hiring of Mike McCarthy to be the head coach of the Packers on January 11, 2006, the Packers parted ways with several assistant coaches, and McCarthy later interviewed NFL Europe head coach Steve Logan and Clements before settling on Clements on January 28, 2006.