Als’ Calvillo a living legend

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2009 (6230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anthony Calvillo is entering that stage of his career where the terms ‘legend’ and ‘Hall of Famer’ are being tossed around, but by no means is he slowing down.

Rather, it’s quite the opposite for the QB known as AC.

Calvillo has been the class of CFL quarterbacks this season with a ridiculous 76.6 per cent completion rate. That’s not a typo. The Montreal Alouettes passer has 164 completions on 214 attempts for 1,899 yards and seven touchdowns.

At the one-third pole, Calvillo is hands down the league MVP. All this at 36 and on the heels of some very trying moments over the last couple of seasons, as his wife and mother of his two young girls has battled cancer.

Last season, Alexia Calvillo underwent radiation treatments while her husband used pro football as a release from the emotional grind of watching his beloved fight for her life.

"While Alexia was going through radiation, football was my outlet," said Calvillo, in a phone interview with the Free Press from Montreal earlier this week. "It was a chance to focus on something else for a couple of hours a day. In October, it’ll be the two-year mark for my wife being cancer-free and the chance of a return after that point is five per cent. The five-year mark is the big number, but we’re feeling good about where we’re at right now."

Calvillo took a leave of absence from football when Alexia was first diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma late in the 2007 season. Only when she appeared to be on the road to recovery did he return. Under the guidance of new head coach Marc Trestman he tore up the league in 2008, passing for 5,633 yards and 43 touchdowns to be named the CFL’s most outstanding player for the second time.

"Alexia and my family come first and she was an inspiration to me," said Calvillo.

The Alouettes arrive in Winnipeg with a 5-1 mark and regarded as the class of the league. The entire nation knows the way to beat Montreal is to knock Calvillo off his game, but that is easier said than done.

The 16-year-vet has become a master of the offence he works within. With a quick release and quicker eyes, Calvillo chips his way down the field like a tyke golfer. Five yards here, seven yards there, a nice after-the-catch pickup and before the beer you just bought can get warm he’s got the Als in the end zone.

"So far things are going well this season," said Calvillo, who has spent the last 12 seasons with the Als after joining the league as a member of the Las Vegas Posse and also spending time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. "We play as a team and when a bunch of guys are having good seasons at the same time, the team usually succeeds."

Calvillo and teammate Ben Cahoon have become the league’s most dangerous duo and already this season the QB has hit his favourite target 38 times for 475 yards.

"Ben and I got to Montreal together 12 years ago and we’ve been able to spend a lot of time together on and off the field," says Calvillo, who is second in the CFL record book for career passing yards. Damon Allen is first with 72,381 yards while Calvillo is closing with 60,597. "The longer you’re together, the easier it is to read one another and use that to your advantage. I can read Ben’s demeanour. It takes time and trust to have that special connection."

Calvillo was a talented quarterback that no one really believed in prior to the 2002 season, but that all changed with the arrival of Don Matthews. The legendary coach put in an offence that was built around Calvillo and asked the QB to call his own plays.

The result was the first of five seasons with more than 5,000 yards in passing, a Grey Cup and the East Division Most Outstanding Player award.

The arrival of Trestman seems to have given Calvillo’s career another jolt and while Allen’s record was once considered unattainable, it’s now on Calvillo’s radar.

"I don’t take my accomplishments for granted but there are things that will be amazing to reflect on once my career is over," said Calvillo.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Closing in on Allen

MOST PASSING YARDS

Seasons Yards

1. Damon Allen 23 72,381

2. Anthony Calvillo 16 60,597

3. Danny McManus 16 53,255

CAREER TOUCHDOWN PASS

LEADERS

Seasons TD passes

1. Damon Allen 23 394

2. Anthony Calvillo 16 335

3. Ron Lancaster 19 333

4. Matt Dunigan 14 306

Here are Calvillo’s top TD targets:

1. Ben Cahoon, Mtl. 57

2. Kerry Watkins, Mtl. 30

3. Jermaine Copeland, Mtl. 27

4. Thomas Haskins, Mtl. 17

5. Jamel Richardson, Mtl. 16

6. Alfonzo Browning, Mtl. 11

7. Kwame Cavil, Mtl. 8

8. Thyron Anderson, Mtl. 9

8. Jock Climie, Mtl. 9

8. Earl Winfield, Ham. 9

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9. Brian Bratton, Mtl. 8

9. Tyree Davis, Mtl. 8

9. Sylvain Girard, Mtl. 8

9. Terry Vaughn, Mtl. 8

10. Curtis Mayfield, LV. 7