‘Pinball’ Clemons, John Murphy ‘arranged marriage’ by Argos’ president Bill Manning

Screenshot courtesy: Toronto Argos

The Toronto Argonauts have a new captain aboard the ship, but it appears he had nothing to do with selecting his second mate.

Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons was interviewed live during the second quarter of Friday’s game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Toronto Argonauts. TSN’s Rod Black asked why Clemons decided to hire longtime CFL personnel man John Murphy to serve as his vice-president of player personnel.

“Because that’s who Bill Manning told me he had hired,” Clemons said. The answer elicited laughter from TSN’s play-by-play duo before the 54-year-old elaborated on his answer.

“The rolodex. It just keeps going and going. You know, I’ve taken too many hits to remember everybody. So if I do forget them, he remembers exactly who they are. So it’s a wonderful marriage.”

Murphy provided further details on how the partnership with Clemons came to be.

“Well, it’s kind of an arranged marriage, which is what Bill wanted. When he pitched me the idea of working in some capacity with somebody in the past 24 hours, I did not immediately know who he had in mind,” Murphy told TSN reporter Matthew Scianitti.

“When I showed up to the meeting and it was Pinball, I was excited.”