For 50 years, the Canadian Football League Players’ Association’s Tom Pate Award has recognized something that cannot be measured on a stat sheet.
Every season, nine CFL players are nominated by their teammates for the honour, with one ultimately selected as the recipient. The award recognizes outstanding sportsmanship and players who make meaningful contributions to their team, their community and the Players’ Association.
In 2026, the Tom Pate Award celebrates its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of recognizing CFL players who make a difference both on and off the football field.
As the Tom Pate Award celebrates its 50th anniversary, nine players have been nominated by their teammates for their contributions to their teams, their communities and the CFLPA.
- BC Lions – Jackson Findlay
- Calgary Stampeders – Derrick Moncrief
- Edmonton Elks – Robbie Smith
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Owen Hubert
- Montreal Alouettes – Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund
- Ottawa RedBlacks – Alonzo Addae
- Saskatchewan Roughriders – Tommy Stevens
- Toronto Argonauts – Nick Arbuckle
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Sergio Castillo
Remembering Tom Pate
The award is named in honour of Tom Pate, a Hamilton Tiger-Cat whose life and football career were tragically cut short in 1975.
Pate attended the University of Nebraska, where he studied business administration and played football for the Cornhuskers. After playing with several teams, he established himself as a standout with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
In October 1975, during his 14th game of the season against the Calgary Stampeders, Pate suffered an aneurysm in the fourth quarter. He was only 23 years old. He never regained consciousness and passed away two days later.
While his time in the CFL was brief, Pate left an impression through the qualities that defined him as a teammate and member of his community. Those qualities became the foundation of an award created in his memory the following year.
George Reed was the inaugural recipient in 1976, beginning a tradition that has continued for five decades.
More Than a Football Award
The CFLPA describes the Tom Pate Award as one that recognizes players who possess the rare qualities that distinguish them from their peers.
Each CFL team nominates one player for the award, with the current CFLPA membership selecting a teammate to represent their club. From those nine team nominees, one player is selected as the Tom Pate Award recipient.
The nominees are not simply being recognized for statistics, individual accomplishments or success on game day. They are being recognized by the people who share their locker room, travel with them, work alongside them and see firsthand the impact they have on the people around them.
The award celebrates players who lead by example, support their teammates, give back to their communities and contribute to the betterment of the CFL and its players.
A Legacy of Leadership and Service
Over the past 50 years, the Tom Pate Award has been presented to some of the CFL's most respected players.
The list of recipients includes legendary figures such as George Reed, Pinball Clemons and Milt Stegall, as well as players whose contributions to their teams, communities and fellow players have defined their CFL careers.
Recent recipients have continued that tradition.
In 2024, Winnipeg Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill was recognized for his community work, including his involvement with Making Faces, Recruit Ready, Football Manitoba and Manitoba Minor Football Association.
In 2025, BC Lions offensive lineman Andrew Peirson received the award after building an extensive record of community involvement, mentorship and leadership. Peirson had delivered more than 250 school presentations, supported initiatives addressing gender-based violence and racism, founded a charity golf tournament in Kingston and served as a CFLPA representative and mentor to younger players.
Their stories illustrate the meaning of what the Tom Pate Award represents. There is no single way to embody its spirit.
For some players, it may be through years of community service. For others, it may be leadership in the locker room, mentorship of younger teammates, involvement with the Players’ Association or simply the way they consistently show up for the people around them.
What connects them is the impact they have beyond their performance on the field.
50 Years, Hundreds of Stories
The history of the Tom Pate Award is ultimately a history of the people who have helped shape the CFL.
For every recipient whose name appears on the award's historical list, there have been teammates, coaches, families, community members and organizations who have experienced that player's impact firsthand.
And every year, a new group of players continues that tradition.
The nine nominees for the 2026 Tom Pate Award represent the best of what the honour is intended to celebrate. Each was selected by their fellow players, and each has a story that goes beyond football.
Over the coming weeks, the CFLPA will share those stories, highlighting the people, causes, teammates and communities that have been influenced by this year's nominees.
As the Tom Pate Award enters its 50th year, the honour remains rooted in the same qualities that inspired it in 1976: sportsmanship, leadership, service and a commitment to making a positive difference.
Fifty years later, the award continues to remind us that a player's legacy is measured by more than what they accomplish between the lines.
It is also measured by the people they help, the teammates they support and the communities they leave better than they found them.
