Who has the longest tenure with the Calgary Stampeders?
That would be Equipment Manager George Hopkins - and it is not even a close competition. With 44 years of CFL experience, all with the Stamps, Geo has worked 761 regular season games, 39 playoff contests and nine Grey Cups. He was added to the Stampeders Wall of Fame in 2014 in the Builders' category. Is there anyone else you would want in charge of player safety?
Geo fits each team member with customized equipment to provide maximum protection to each athlete. He orders and issues everything from chewing gum to cleats, plus coordinates the transportation of the club's equipment to and from each road site. It's important to have a strong relationship between the players and the equipment staff to ensure their individual needs are met.
Geo fits each team member with customized equipment to provide maximum protection to each athlete. He orders and issues everything from chewing gum to cleats, plus coordinates the transportation of the club's equipment to and from each road site. It's important to have a strong relationship between the players and the equipment staff to ensure their individual needs are met.
Visors for the team's helmets are purchased from various manufacturers, but in accordance with CFL policy the logo cannot be shown. The team uses decals and even Sharpies to cover the majority of the logo and fill in spots.
Around 50 per cent of the current Stampeders team members prefer visors on their helmets. Players can choose to have either tinted or clear visors, however to be eligible for a tinted visor the player must receive optomologist approval. |