The quiet end of a H o F career ?
Wowzers! Not the way I think he or any of us who have enjoyed watching him, would've wanted to see him go out in that manner.
I'm kinda sad actually! Always liked AC for all he's gone through, endured & what he's done for the game I love!
Not surprising really,but a sad bit of information for A.C. and the ALS. I wonder how far along Troy Smith is in the learning curve of CFL Football?? It probably won't be long before his number is called to lead this team. He will either sink or shine in the league,but right now he is definetely the X-Factor in the Al's immediate future.
I definitely didn't want him to go out this way; I wanted him to retire years ago.
If Calvillo doesn't play again, Ricky Foley will become the answer to a trivia question.
The Als will get at least one game in the playoffs and the Als could call him back early according to league rules.
Going to be hard for him to step in again into a playoff situation but even a one game callback before the playoffs sees him get some play time. If March does well the rest of the season then he might just start the playoff game but at the first sign of falter I would see AC brought back in to try and light the fire one last time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErWTBb5-vik seem like yesterday,a baby faced Calvillo as a Ti-Cat in "95"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z8tfEwzCGQ Calvillo's first game against Argos,Las Vegas Posse,inj.1rst play of game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZozDXcyg8MA Chris Berman tribute to A.C. south of the border!!!!
The bigger story is that this sadly may be the end to a great career.
But a footnote is that the Als now have some cap room. If they start to use it, we will know that Calvillo isn't coming back. My guess is that if they use it, it won't be so much for new players but rather to lock-in some of their vets.
This is one situation where the player is the least able to judge when the end of the career has arrived. The body has spoken but the ego didn't listen until it was too late.
I wouldn't say he stayed in the game far too long as he just came off an all-star campaign, and was one of only two QB's in the league to throw for over 30 TD's and 5,000+ yards last season.
(Burris being the other)
Elite players don't just crash and burn within a few months due to age alone.
In Calvillo's case, variables such as the revamped coaching staff, new playbook/system, team injuries, player turnaround, including the toll from recent cancer treatments, shoulder injuries and age related drop-offs are all factors in the rapid decline of his play.
AC has the records, Grey Cup rings, longevity, certain HOF commemoration, relatively good health, a great family and the adulation and reverence from legions of fans throughout the country.
(myself included)
The time is right to retire.
All the best Anthony. Thanks for the memories. :thup:
And some would say that the best time to retire is when your prime has been achieved. Not after the toll of injuries have pushed you to the sidelines.
Obviously, he can retire when he chooses, but I doubt he wants his last season to be one where he anchored the bench.
After this latest concussion he won't be back. He took one hit too many, he should have left at the end of last season.
What I find weird is that hit didn’t look all that bad at all. He didn’t seem to have any kind of indication that there was any contact to the head or anything, to suffer a concussion on that hit. It does not look good since there were was no contact with the head at all and the hit seemed fairly routine and light relative to most hits a QB takes.
[b]old fan wrote: And some would say that the best time to retire is when your prime has been achieved. Not after the toll of injuries have pushed you to the sidelines.[/b]yes, but who among us can foretell the future? and who has the authority to determine one's "prime"?
Damon Allen was long considered long past expiration date when he won the 2004 Grey Cup (and MVP) at age 41, as well as the 2005 MOP award at age 42, easily the best season of his entire career.
Should Allen have heeded to his detractors in those previous years calling for his retirement and thereby negating these splendid achievements and memories?
Should the Als have dropped AC 4-5 years ago when many opined he was over the hill, thus depriving Montreal of their last two Grey Cups?
Should the TiCats have neglected to sign Burris, as he was deemed past prime by Calgary and pundits alike a few years ago?
fact is, nobody knows when the time is prime.
I agree. Not sure if maybe the back of his head hit the turf hard or something.
I really think this would be a different season for the Als (even the injuries to their O line) if they hadn't lost Trestman in the off season. Bad camp plus bad schemes can lead to player frustration and lack of focus which can lead to freak injuries.
Agreed. But they can still pull it out. I think a neutral observer would give the Als at least as good a chance as the Cats for the Grey Cup, although in neither case does it seem likely given the strength of the top teams in the West. One reason for the Als recent success is that their former-backup NI O-linemen who are now starting, Matte and Bomben, turn out to be pretty good. Last game against the Argos, the Als returned to their typical past practice of an all NI O-line, even having lost Woodruff and Flory.
The prime of one’s career as a quarterback is certainly not being a spectator on your own team.
Every player has their detractors, no matter what stage their professional career may be at. Look at Brett Favre’s last years in the NFL. There were very few who commented that his playing on was a good thing.
Burris hasn’t reached the big game as yet, but the constant coaching changes and poor defenses have hindered his path in Hamilton. I also don’t recall these players experiencing the health issues that Calvillo has faced.
Over the past 4 to 5 years the Als should have started planning for a successor to Calvillo, instead of putting themselves into the situation they’re in now.
Anthony Calvillo should have known when Trestman departed (his mentor), when Dan Hawkins, a man who had never been a head coach professionally, never coached at any level in the CFL, was hired. When Hawkins hired co-ordinators who had no league experience. The fact that his team is aging and a number of those who have played with him through that time have either been cut or retired. That his team hasn’t been to a Grey Cup in at least two years, and couldn’t win an Eastern final in their own backyard for as long.
I really don’t see the mystery.
“The situation they’re in now” … you mean going 2-0 so far with Tanner Marsh as QB? (That’s exactly two more wins vs. winning teams than we have this year with Burris at the helm.)
Unfortunately, two wins do not make a season, or a career.
Let's see if he's still leading the offense at the end of the season before we crown him king.
It's too bad that A.C. has to sit out on the 9 game injury list, I hope he gets better and fans will miss his play in the Atlantic Bowl against the Cats in Moncton.
I still think the hit on AC by Ricky Folly was excessive, this is not Ricky's first hit that he has put another player out of the game and he plays with a great amount of Cocky, Hurt the other player attitude. I guess that comes from being an ex-Argo and BC Lions player. I remember when the Argo's played the Cats in the Semi-Final game at Ivor Wynne in 2010 and Folly sacked Kevin Glenn with a similar hard hit, he made sure he knew it, and made a gesture of rubbing his eyes like he was saying that Kevin Glenn was a cry baby!
Im not fond of that style of cocky play and Gestures as I am not fond of seeing other players get injured but if there was ever one player in the CFL who deserved a Chop Block at the knees it's Ricky Folly, this guy is the biggest SOB in Football.