Montreal Alouettes QB Anthony Calvillo To Retire: Report

TSN’s Dave Naylor is reporting that Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo will retire at a press conference in Montreal next week.

The Alouettes have announced a 11:00 a.m. press conference next Tuesday where president Mark Weightman, GM/Head Coach Jim Popp and Calvillo will address the media regarding his future with the team.

Given the extensions signed by two quarterbacks this offseason and the fact that he missed the last part of the season with a concussion that never really improved it will be widely assumed it will be to announce his retirement.

Calvillo was never thought to be the Canadian Football League’s most prolific passer before he came to the Alouettes to be Tracy Ham’s backup. However, that’s exactly what he became breaking Damon Allen’s mark for most yardage.

The numbers speak for themselves. Calvillo was thought to be a quarterback who couldn’t win the big game when he had only one Grey Cup championship, including a heartbreaking Grey Cup loss at home at Olympic Stadium, however things changed.

The combination of Marc Trestman and Calvillo returned to the Grey Cup the next two years, both wins against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Quarterbacks – whether Calvillo, Peyton Manning or Dan Marino – get unfairly judged for team performances often outside of their control. It is nice that Calvillo had that image shaken late in his career and he will retire with three championships.

As someone who was at Alouettes practice the day that Calvillo left the team to be with his wife Alexia when she was diagnosed with cancer, I know the importance Calvillo places on family. It was surely a decision he made with family and with family in mind.