John Thomas "J. T." Hay
The subject of our Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame biography was christened John Thomas to the family surname of Hay. However, similar to most boys especially after they enroll in elementary school, a lengthy a given name is usually abbreviated by boyhood chums. Hence John Thomas became “J.T.” and this popular tag has remained a fixture throughout his public and high school era and his Canadian Football League career with Ottawa Rough Riders and Calgary Stampeders.
J.T. is the son of the late Alex Hay and his wife the former Anna Margaret MacSweyn. In his youth he attended public school just beyond the family farm home in what is now the Lochiel Township administrative offices, 4th concession. Also here was the playground where J.T. began to demonstrate his youthful athletic skills in booting a football now known as soccer.
Graduating to high school J.T. discovered that football on Friday afternoons was the premier fall sport in Glengarry, Cornwall, Maxville, Vankleek Hill and Hawkesbury and in his first practises with this new type of oblong football he became attracted to kicking the ball from a tee to get a game underway and then boot the ball from different angles and distances through the goal posts. The Frank Clair of that high school era, Gaels coach Stan Fraser, observed that J.T. had distinctive kicking talents and he began to groom the Lochiel farm boy in the technique of kicking field goals. As we say in sport writing, “from that day on J.T. Hay never looked back.”
Playing junior high school football was ideal training for this budding gridiron great to carry forward Glengarry’s rich football heritage. In due course game the lofty heights of J.T.’s high school football career.
I have told this story before and as long as I am blessed with memory highlights, I’ll always cherish telling this football story again.
It is a late fall Friday afternoon, a cold breeze is blowing from, the northwest and the mist is on the fringe of a drizzle, we are on the Hawkesbury high school football field, literally a farm sold field. Gaels are behind tow points; Stan Fraser sends J.T. out to kick a field goal; my faithful companion each Friday covering the games for the Glengarry News in Angus R. MacDonald. I asked Angus to stand opposite J.T. and I would stay on the 40 yard stripe. J.T. cooly swings his educated toe to the ball, it’s … up … straight and just over the bar. Gaels are the champions by J.T.’s field goal, a single point.
Angus R. does the measuring and J.T.’s boot is 43 yards with a wet ball against a slight breeze. The rest is history.
At the spring training camp J.T. was graded in third place among the Sooners’ rookies. Success breeds success and J.T. in 1977 was signed by Ottawa Rough Riders. Youth had to surrender to seniority a couple of years later as veteran place kicker Jerry Organ returned to Riders’ Camp.
J.T. was gladly signed by Calgary stampeders where he played with distinction until retirement two years ago, 1989.
Next Wednesday night at the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner, J.T. will share the glory and prestige of our football heritage with Glengarry Canadian Football greats: “Big Dunc” MacDonald, Joe Corbett, Stewart Rayside, Jim McCaffrey, and “Tupper” McDonald.
