'Well-respected' football-savvy Pat Peacock saluted for '80s 'Save our Stamps' campaign

A memorial is being held Sunday for Pat Peacock, who spearheaded the Stampeders’ S.O.S. campaign in 1986.

Pat Peacock is being hailed as the QB of the S.O.S. football campaign.

His role in the mission to ‘Save our Stamps’ back in the 1980s is one Calgary sports fans should all salute, as friends and family honour the proud pigskin enthusiast Sunday with a memorial at the Red and White Club (2 p.m.).

Peacock died Dec. 4 after battling two rare diseases affecting the lungs. He was 79.

“He was a really solid guy,” said good friend Steve Allan. “Fun, gregarious … he had so many friends.

“A great guy — storyteller, smart as a whip and very well-respected, too.”

Peacock was afforded plenty of respect for his efforts to help save the city’s Canadian Football League club when community ownership struggled to make ends meet nearly 40 years ago.

“It was a big deal at the time in 1986, when the Stamps were down,” Allan said. “It was the S.O.S. campaign — Save Our Stamps. The Flames were the new game in town, and their popularity was eating into the Stampeders’ ticket sales. And ticket sales were down below probably 10,000.”

A bid was put in by Stamps legend Gerry Shaw and city entrepreneur Doug Hunter to buy the club contingent on an appeal to the city to cover the rent for McMahon Stadium.

“The city was unable to get their mind wrapped around how they could do that because McMahon was owned by the university,” Allan said. “So when that bid fell through, I turned on the radio the next morning, and it was, ‘The Stampeders are done.’ But people were calling into a show saying, ‘Let’s get behind this. Surely, we can get enough people together and sell enough tickets to get the club back on its feet.’”

That’s when Peacock stepped in to spearhead a last-minute drive, with pro bono professional support from insolvency accountant Allan and another close high-school friend in Insolvency lawyer Quincy Smith.

“The community really came together, and Pat was the quarterback for that whole process,” continued Allan. “The goal was 18,000 tickets, and we got it up there (to 22,400 ahead of an 11-win season in 1987). With constant communication, he got it across the goal-line.”

The Calgary-born Peacock had a long, “brilliant” and distinguished legal career after his graduation in the Class of 1967 — with silver-medal honour — from law school at the University of Alberta.

He went on to serve the Canadian Bar Association with honour, chairing many committees and serving as the Alberta branch president 1983-84 and national president 1988-89 at a relatively young age. His many legal recognitions included being appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1984 and becoming a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Through it all, he was a staunch football fan, taking on various roles with the Stampeders beginning in 1973, including the challenging position of chairing the board in 1985-86 during those rocky financial times.

“His widow, Virginia, told me, ‘One of the most significant things in Pat’s life was chairing the Stampeders football club,’” Allan said. “And he was vice-chair of the CFL at the time, too.

“So she is planning to wear his president’s pin at the memorial.”

Peacock, a father of four and grandfather of seven, was also “just a natural musician.” He played the piano and a “bass fiddle that was practically as big as him” for a group called the Tungsten Trio Plus One — a takeoff of the Kingston Trio with their folk songs.

But his fever for football — he played the game in high school — is at the forefront of a salute to him Sunday.

“Pat Peacock combined the unbridled passion of a fan with keen skills as an administrator, and for that, the Calgary Stampeders will forever be grateful,” added Stamps president John Hufnagel in a public letter. “This team would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for him.

“I offer the deepest of condolences to his family. It’s also a loss for the Calgary community, his law colleagues, his legion of friends and the Calgary Stampeders Football Club.”

The Calgary Stampeders’ rookie team sings the national anthem before the Red & White intrasquad game at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, May 27, 2023.

SHORT YARDAGE

The Stamps held their annual Red & White game Saturday at McMahon Stadium. “Great competition, great day, decent crowd — they were pretty loud,” said Stamps GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “The national anthem was sung (by the players) fairly well, in my opinion. I think the people enjoyed it, and we got a lot of out it as well.” … For the coach, player takeaways from the day included QB Logan Bonner and a handful of pass-catchers, especially Canadian Tyson Middlemost after he caught a ball on a streak route for a long reception. “Middlemost is the one that stood out,” Dickenson said. “I know we’ve got the receivers.” … The Stamps get back to practice beginning Monday with single-practice days through to Thursday’s second-and-final pre-season tilt against the host BC Lions in Vancouver (8:30 p.m., News Talk 770).

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