Tommy Joe Coffey (November 18, 1936 – August 25, 2020) was an American-born

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) player who was an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, wide receiver and

place kicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Speci ...

for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

CFL

In his fourteen-year career he caught 650 passes for a total of 10,320 yards and 63 touchdowns. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving 4 times: 1963 to 1965 and 1969, his most prolific year being 1965 with 81 receptions for 1,286 yards. His best TD totals were 1962 and 1969 with 11, his best point totals 1969 with 148 points and 1962 with 129. He was replaced as the Tiger Cat place kicker by

Ian Sunter Ian Sunter (born December 21, 1952) is a Scottish-Canadian Canadian football place kicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. ...

after the 1971 season, hitting only 11 of 27 field goal attempts. He also played some defense in his first two years, intercepting 3 balls in 1959 and 1 in 1960. Coffey was a member of two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

winning teams, in 1967 and 1972, both with Hamilton against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

, especially during the 1967 season, catching 42 passes for 683 yards (16.3 yards/catch) and 5 touchdowns and hitting 18 of 27 field goal attempts for a total of 107 points. In the

55th Grey Cup The 55th Grey Cup was played between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on December 2, 1967, at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, before 31,358 fans and was won by the Tiger-Cats by a score of 24–1. Box Score First Quarter Ham ...

(1967) game, he scored 3 points as a kicker (2 converts and 1 rouge after a missed field goal). In the 1967–1972 span with Hamilton, he scored 603 points, third on their all-time list, see Hamilton Tiger-Cats all-time records and statistics.

Awards

Coffey won the

Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy The Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, given to the top scorer in the West Division. Unlike other CFL trophies, there is no East Division counterpart, though the East Division teams were eligible in the 1995 CFL ...

as the top scorer in the

1962 CFL season The 1962 CFL season is considered to be the ninth season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the fifth Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1962 The Canadian Football Hall of Fame was established in Hamilton. The ...

. He was a seven-time CFL All-Star, four times as an Edmonton Eskimo and three times as a Hamilton Tiger-Cat; both teams have added him to their Walls of Honour. He was elected into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 1977. In November 2006, Coffey was voted as #27 on a list of the CFL's top 50 players since 1945, in a poll conducted by Canadian sports network TSN.

Personal life

In 1968 Coffey's Tiger-Cat helmet was stolen, and traded for some table time at Hamilton pool hall. Forty-eight years later, in November 2015, Coffey was reunited with his stolen helmet. Coffey, who lived in

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

, with his wife Joan, died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on August 25, 2020, at St. Peter's Hospital in neighbouring

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Video clips

Statistics

http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/c/coffey_tommy_joe.htm https://www.cfl.ca/page/retroweek_player_tommy-joe-coffey

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Tommy Joe 1936 births 2020 deaths Players of American football from Texas West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players Canadian football wide receivers Canadian football placekickers Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees