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Feb 10 '18
In Canadian football, the potential of the games greatest players isnt always obvious during the early stages of their careers. Dan Majerle Jersey . And Anthony Calvillo is no exception. He came to the CFL in the most unusual of circumstances, the 21-year-old quarterback of a CFL expansion team in Las Vegas that spent its one and only season playing before crowds that resembled friends and family. That first season, he completed 44 per cent of his passes and threw more interceptions than touchdowns while the team stumbled to a 5-13 record and then folded. Had Calvillo hung up his cleats right then and there, no one would have blamed him. And no one would have remembered him, either. At that time, he was about as anonymous as a CFL player could be. All of which makes more remarkable the journey hes taken over the past 20 years, retiring as the all-time leading passer in pro football history, three Grey Cup rings and a legacy in Canadian football that is virtually unmatched. The lesson of Anthony Calvillos career is that those who become stars in the Canadian game are rarely those who possess eye-popping physical attributes, or who arrive with bona fide star power. They are, instead, usually players whose full skill sets arent obvious right away, requiring a combination of humility, determination, patience and smarts to reach their potential. And in Calvillos case, he needed every one of those qualities to get him to the top. Calvillos time in Las Vegas was followed by a move to Hamilton for three seasons where he served primarily as backup quarterback for the Tiger-Cats, followed by two more with Montreal where he once again played the understudy, this time under CFL great, Tracy Ham. If there was greatness ahead of him at that time, only Calvillo would have known it. Yet six years into his professional career, following Hams retirement after the 1999 season, Calvillo took the reins in Montreal looking like someone whod been succeeding at the Canadian game all his life. It turns out Calvillo had made good use of those first half-dozen years in the league, refining his craft, learning from his own mistakes and those of others, quietly turning himself into someone who was ready and able to engineer a CFL offence. When his time came to become a starter with Montreal, he was meticulous and calm, the consummate professional who could command respect from those around him with his approach to the game and unmatched level of preparedness. Had his success come earlier in his career, Calvillo might not have lasted as long as he did in the CFL. But when the National Football League comes looking for players in Canada, it tends to value youth and overhwelming physical skills. To appreciate Anthony Calvillo, you couldnt just look at tape or watch him at a workout. You had to see him game-in and game-out to understand the consistency, how rarely his instincts betrayed him and what a winner he was. That recogntion didnt come quickly in Canada either, however. Consider that when TSN did its Top 50 all-time players list in 2006, a survey of football media from across the country, Calvillos name wasnt on it. It wasnt truly until the final half-dozen years of his career that Calvillo began to receive his due as one of the leagues all-time greats, as the success he accumulated year after year became impossible to ignore. Calvillo is the last player to have played for a U.S. expansion team to retire, closing the book on that desperate chapter of CFL history but at the same time reminding us it wasnt all bad. If it werent for the Las Vegas Posse, would Calvillo have ever played in the CFL? And even if he had surfaced elsewhere in the league, would his journey somehow have turned out differently? Its been a great ride for Anthony Calvillo, the rare CFL player who retires as a nationally recognized name in Canada. From the unlikeliest of beginnings to the highest of accolades, he earned everything he got along the way. Dave Naylor can be heard weekdays from 4pm-7pm as the host of TSN Drive on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto. Charles Barkley Jersey .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. Custom Phoenix Suns Jerseys . Lexie Lou earned a commanding 4 1/2-length win Sunday in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks.Let the experts break it down for you. TSN Soccer Analysts Jason deVos and Kristian Jack have kicked off their weekly “Off the Ball” segment on TSN.ca on Tuesday, providing an in-depth look at the biggest plays from the Major League Soccer fixture. This week, deVos and Jack look at how the Vancouver Whitecaps Pedro Morales was able to use his adept and precise midfield passing game to spur his team past the defending Eastern Champion Houston Dynamo and keep their unbeaten start alive. Also in this weeks episode the analysts also take a look at Toronto FCs defence as it suffered its first loss of the Jermain Defoe era. Check in each week as deVVos and Jack break down the action Off the Ball as part of TSN and TSN. Brandon Knight Jersey. .cas comprehensive MLS coverage. Be sure to also check in at TSN.ca after each Canadian game for in-depth breakdowns. Each week, the site boasts a whole slate of MLS coverage from our analysts and personalities, including deVos “Shapes of MLS” blog, Jacks tactical breakdowns of the Canadian teams, TSN Radio Montreals Noel Butler with his off-the-pitch features on the Impact, TSN Radio Torontos Gareth Wheeler with Toronto FC reactions, TSN Soccer Analyst Luke Wileman with features on the Whitecaps and more coverage from our team of experts at TSN.ca. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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