Mike “ Pinball ” Clemons Talks About Life
by Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Business
It was a treat for me to meet and talk to former CFL football player and coach Mike “ Pinball “ Clemons at the RBC Canadian Open recently held in Oakville Ontario. We talked about life in general, one of my favourite topics!
“My philosophy about life is pretty simple. Life is about people. I love people so try not to over complicate things. Life is about people. We work so hard to differentiate ourselves. I’m Canadian and your American or you are from the UK. I’ m in Ontario or you are in Alberta
or I’m in Toronto. We separate ourselves by religious affiliation, social status, economic status, city, country and I don’t understand it,” smiled Mike Clemons. “ We are more alike than we are different. We are just people. Try to keep it simple. Life is about people, not stuff. You should be interested in the welfare of people. The reality is in a city of 4 million in the GTA, you can’t have an intimate conversation with everyone but just simply try to have people’s best interest in mind. If there is an opportunity to help- do it. No man can help someone else with out helping themselves. True joy in life comes from giving. The harshest form of punishment in our society is solitary confinement. The reality is if you are by yourself all the time you will go crazy. The very best amoungst us over time can be reduced to a fool by themselves. We are here to be in relationships and to enjoy each other and help if we can.”
“ There are people who have achieved a lot and have great wealth but have emptiness. People who are poor may have wonderful, rich lives because their life is about relationships. The quality of your life is proportional to the relationships you have every time. It is important
to build from the inside out.” said Clemons. “ The reason I stopped coaching is my family. I wanted to have the opportunity to do some things. We have a foundation where we have
committed to build 131 schools in developing countries- The Mike Pinball Clemons Foundation. We will be building 31 homes in Toronto with Habitat for Humanity in the next 6 years. It is important to build inside out and that things are taken care of at home. I public speak quite a bit now. My believe system is in God. The biggest manifestation of this is how you treat people.”said Mike Clemons.
