The Calgary Stampeders will be sporting a special decal on their helmets for their matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, honouring the late Doug Mitchell.
A fixture in the Calgary community, Mitchell passed away last week at the age of 83. He is best known as the CFL’s sixth commissioner, a role in which he served from 1984 to 1988.
Mitchell was part of a group of local business owners who purchased the Stampeders in 2005 and served on the team’s executive committee until his death. He also sat on the CFL’s board of governors as a representative of the Stampeders.
“Doug’s passing is a huge loss to the Stampeders, to the CFL and to the community,” Stampeders president and general manager John Hufnagel said in a statement last week. “His contributions to football and amateur sports were numerous and far-reaching.”
Known as an avid supporter of Canadian university football, the athletic facilities at his alma mater UBC bear Mitchell’s name, as does the Mitchell Bowl, one of U Sports’ national semi-final games. The U Sports Athlete of the Year Awards were recently renamed in honour of him and his wife, The Honourable Lois Mitchell, former lieutenant governor of Alberta.
A member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Mitchell’s contributions to his community and his country have earned him inclusion in the Alberta Order of Excellence, and the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021.
Unveiled on Twitter by communications director Jean Lefebvre, the honorary decal features Mitchell’s name, year of birth, and year of death in cursive writing. The text is accompanied by a vintage CFL helmet logo from the era he served as commissioner.
The Stampeders will have a chance to honour Mitchell in a particularly special way, as the team can become the first CFL franchise to reach 400 home wins with a victory on Saturday.
