Calvillo joins CFL legends in Hall
Pro football’s all-time leading passer earns highest Canadian gridiron honour
It was about a month ago when the call came in. Anthony Calvillo doesn’t normally answer his cellphone when the number isn’t recognized, but something about the 416 area code told him he should this time.
He recognized the voice — Canadian Football League commissioner Jeffrey Orridge — advising Calvillo he was part of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame class of 2017.
“I was pretty ecstatic, to be honest. I still get goosebumps thinking about that call. It was an exciting day,” Calvillo said this week during an exclusive interview with Postmedia.
The hardest part has been keeping the secret from the majority of his family during the interval before the announcement was made Wednesday night at Mosaic Stadium as part of CFL Week in Regina.
Calvillo will be joined by Kelvin Anderson, Geroy Simon and Mike O’Shea in the player category, while former Calgary Stampeders president Stan Schwartz and University of Saskatchewan head coach Brian Towriss go into the builders division. The formal induction ceremony will be held later this year.
The inclusion of Calvillo should come as no surprise. Over the course of 20 seasons with Las Vegas, Hamilton and the final 16 in Montreal, he passed for 79,816 yards, the most in pro football history. Calvillo won three Grey Cups, was named the CFL’s most outstanding player three times and was a finalist seven times. He was a five-time CFL all-star.
Calvillo makes it into the Hall in his first year of eligibility, the final game of his career coming at the old Mosaic Stadium in August, 2013, when he was concussed following what appeared to be an innocuous hit. Not even the great Damon Allen, another legendary CFL pivot, made it in his first year of eligibility.
“It should happen one day. When? We don’t know,” Calvillo rationalized. “It caps off my career ... playing for 20 years, three different teams, accomplishing the things I did. It just puts a stamp on everything.”
The greatness of Calvillo wouldn’t prevail until 2000, his first year as the Als’ starter following Tracy Ham’s retirement. Montreal went 12-6, reaching the Cup, but lost to a B.C. squad that was only 8-10 in what had to be considered an upset. That theme would be repeated.
Calvillo and the Als made it to eight Cups during an 11-year period, winning a modest three. The record might have been better. A double-overtime loss to Edmonton in 2005 could have gone either way. Another setback at the hands of the Eskimos two years earlier generally was blamed on head coach Don Matthews, who started two rookies at cornerback.
If it has become easy to knock Calvillo for the Als’ record in title games, his value and importance have repeatedly been demonstrated in retirement — with Montreal incapable of finding a replacement the last three years, the last two culminating in losing records and no playoff berths.
“I never thought about my legacy. I was more concerned about trying to win another title,” said Calvillo, 44, the Als’ quarterbacks coach after an 18-month period during which the inexperienced mentor struggled as offensive co-ordinator. “After 20 years ... I’m happy and have no regrets. The 3-5 record is what it is. I have no complaints about that. I’d like more rings, but I gave everything I had and I’m very proud of what I was able to accomplish.”
There’s no doubt former Als GM Jim Popp generally surrounded Calvillo with a strong supporting cast. Calvillo credits Matthews, Montreal’s head coach from 200206, for changing the course of his career. Marc Trestman, who began a five-year run as head coach in 2008, took Calvillo’s game, already seemingly on cruise control, to the apex.
Calvillo was injured in 2001 and left the team in 2007 to be with his wife, who was battling cancer. It would have been easy for both Matthews and Trestman to move on without him. But Matthews told a nervous Calvillo he was going to build the team around him.
“That’s where, I believe, my career started to take off,” Calvillo said. “And Trestman, the small details he brought to our offence. He had the pulse of the room and knew what to say. The small details that were required from the position to play in his offence — the drops, footwork, timing of the receivers. If everything wasn’t perfect, a player could disrupt the dynamic of a play.”
Calvillo accomplished all this without being vocal and demonstrative, traits generally considered essential at quarterback. Instead, he decided to lead by example, speaking only when necessary.
The man who began his career on the Las Vegas strip, living at the Riviera Hotel during training camp; the same one who was brayed out of Hamilton, wondering whether his career might be over, prevailed due to hard work and mental preparation, hour after hour. Calvillo ensured, when he stepped on the field, he knew everything and wouldn’t have to second-guess any decision. He was never satisfied, hungry to remain on top, always looking over his shoulder at potential replacements.
“I’ve never taken anything for granted,” he said. “I’m just another guy who was able to play football for so many years.”
It caps off my career ... playing for 20 years, three different teams, accomplishing the things I did.