For anyone who has been following me over the last 2 weeks, you’ll know what happened during the Stampeders vs Riders halftime at the game on Oct 23, 2021 at McMahon Stadium.
But you probably don’t know the background story.
- How long I’ve been trying to make this happen.
- How many times I gave up, thinking it would never work.
- Always having hope and eventually having everything line up perfectly.
I first contacted the Stamps in August 2012, when I was competing with Davy Whippet, and before we had broken the Guinness World Record for Distance to Canine Catch in Oct 2012. I did get a response back but nothing further happened.
I reached out again in May 2013 and again got a response back, but the timing wasn’t right.
I reached out for a third time in April 2015 and got a response, but again the timing wasn’t right.
I reached out for a fourth time in Sept 2021 and got a response back from Geordie MacLeod, Sr. Director of Game Presentation and Events for the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation.
He was into the idea of having me attempt the record for Longest Catch at a Live Sporting Event and connected me with his team, Austin Shaw & Riley Jans.
After an initial conversation, they were all in. And a month later, the rest is history.
I honestly am still trying to process everything that happened because it’s all happened so far. It hasn’t even been 2 months since I first reached out to the Stamps about doing a halftime show.
None of this would be possible if not for Georgie, Austin, Riley, and the Stamps organization.
In particular, I want to give a shout out to Joe McFarland, the on-field announcer. Without Joe’s support, timing, voice, and energy, my performance, the halftime show, and the subsequent video, none of this would have been possible.
The Stamps went above and beyond, making it possible for me to donate $5/ticket sold through my event link to the charity of my choice, for which I chose the Bob Freeze Sports Grant through the Calgary Booster Club. I will update this post once I get a final number on that donation.
They also gave me an official, custom Stamps jersey with “Frisbee Rob” on the back. I wore it during the halftime and it was a perfect addition to the show! As you can see, Sailor likes it too!
Since the game was the annual PinkPower theme, in support of the Canadian Cancer Society, presented by Mayfair Diagnostics, I made sure to pick up a pink Stamps toque, and we wrapped Sailor’s legs with pink vetrap from The Horse Store (literally picked it up 5 minutes before they closed, 2 hours before kickoff on the day of!).
You’ll also notice that Sailor was wearing a fancy pink coat, custom designed and made by Amy at Junkyard Jammies. Special props to my girlfriend, CJ, for adding some bling to the coat, which gave it extra sparkle under the lights at McMahon!
The Stamps got on board as well and ordered custom stamped pink Frisbee Fastbacks from Discovering the World, who came through huge and got us the frisbees in time for the game! I closed out the halftime show by throwing 30-40 frisbees to fans, which was a great way to interact with the crowd, and make sure that they were able to take home a good quality frisbee (both in terms of form and function). The Fastback is the disc used to set the MTA World Record in 1984 by Don Cain when he had a self catch of 16.72 seconds. Incredible!
Without Sailor, I would not have been able to do this – he is such a sweet boy and I’m so grateful to my friend Lara for trusting me to take care and be a good teammate to Sailor.
Finally, I want to say thank you to my family, friends, frisbee family, and all of the fans who have been supporting me over the years, and the new fans who have joined my journey since Sailor become the Touchdown Dog!
From my estimations, the video of our 109 yard record setting throw & catch has received more than 40 million views across Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Imgur, Facebook, and Youtube, most notably on ESPN’s Tiktok and Instagram, which accounts for roughly 30 million views alone.
@espn They set a new record for the longest catch at a live sporting event 🤯 ##dog ##football ##catch (via @Rob McLeod)
♬ no lie – favsoundds
Keep in mind, those are purely views. I’m not including likes, comments, and shares, which is close to 7 million by my estimations.
It’s been an incredible two weeks and I’m so excited for what’s to come! I’m looking forward to continuing to share more about the event and continue sharing what I’ve been working so hard at for the past 10+ years, especially the last 7 years since I started speaking in schools and teaching frisbee workshops fulltime.