Stamps equipment manager George Hopkins marks 1,000 games on 50th anniversary with team

Right around 1972, when the starting quarterback was Jerry Keeling, the star defensive end John Helton, and the middle linebacker Wayne Harris, 13-year-old George Hopkins snagged a dream job for a Calgary kid: Stampeders ball boy.

Little did George, or 'Geo' as he's known in the dressing room, know, but that was the end of his job search - forever.

That's because Hopkins would eventually work his way up  to become the team's equipment manager, and this weekend in Ottawa, Geo and the Stampeders will mark the occasion of his 1000^th game with the team.

He's worked with 13 different head coaches, hundreds of players and watched CFL games in 26 different stadiums.

He's watched everyone from Keeling to Flutie to Dickenson to Henry Burris, from Jeff Garcia to Drew Tate to Kevin Glenn to Bo Levi Mitchell play quarterback.

Along the way, Geo appeared at 12 Grey Cup games, with the Stamps winning six of them.

The 2022 season marks Hopkins' 50^th with the team.

It's a far cry for someone whose original plan was to become an academic.

"My firm intention was that I was going to be a history professor," he said. "So right now, I'd be tenured and sitting at home in my den, with my pipe and smoking jacket, so not this kind of totally different field completely."

The Stampeders take on the Ottawa Redblacks Friday at 5:30 p.m. MST.