No shocker: Blue Hall of Fame for Stegall

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This article was published 08/07/2009 (5936 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILT STEGALL may not have known where Winnipeg was when he first signed on with the Blue Bombers but after 14 seasons in our town he’s a part of our culture and on Tuesday it was made official as the CFL’s all-time leader in receiving yards had his name bronzed as a member of the club’s Hall of Fame.

"It’s a pleasure. I never thought I’d be in Winnipeg for 14 years and I never thought I’d be a Hall of Famer. The fact I’m doing it just after finishing my career is an honour and a pleasure," said Stegall, who was feted at the club’s Legacy Dinner on Tuesday night and will be honoured at halftime of Friday’s home opener against the Calgary Stampeders.

"Every time I stepped on the field, I always tried to do my best and do whatever I could, whatever it took to help my team win. Sometimes, we won and sometimes, we didn’t but I knew that I always gave my best."

A native of Cincinnati and an NFLer with the Bengals for three seasons, Stegall says coming to Winnipeg originally felt like a career-ending move but turned out to be the best thing that ever happened in his football life.

"My agent called me and said the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have your rights. Back then, they didn’t have the Internet or anything so I looked it up, Winnipeg, in the encyclopedia. I didn’t even know that North Dakota existed," laughed Stegall. "So when I got up here, I never thought it would be like this. A door that would open up like this and all the things that have happened for me, all the people I’ve met and all the great opportunities. But these 14 years are something that will be embedded in my head for a long, long time because it was such a great experience."

Stegall owns a number of CFL records, 147 career touchdowns, 144 career receiving touchdowns and 23 touchdowns in a season are league bests. The Bomber great owns a number of club records as well: 854 receptions, 10 receiving seasons better than 1,000 yards and 1,896 receiving yards in a season are all tops in Winnipeg. So is his career mark of 15,153 receiving yards.

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Stegall says he considers himself a Winnipegger and an honorary Canadian.

"I do. I spent more than a third of my life here. Of course, it was six months on and six months off. So, I’m somewhat of a Canadian. My youngest son is a Canadian. He was born here," said Stegall. "I’ll go back home and I’ll slip up sometimes and I’ll say, ‘Eh’ and my friends look at me and say, ‘You need to go back up to Winnipeg talking like that.’ "

The 39-year-old retired after last season and says he misses the game but not as much he expected to.

"Mentally, yes. Physically, I think my body is better off without it. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be," said Stegall. "Of course, I would still enjoy being out there but my football career had run its course and it was definitely time to move on."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca