OT: CFL regular season thread

[puckhead]

Sportscenter was giving Cavillo a bunch of love yesterday, but didn't mention nothing of the current season. They just talked about how many freakin' miles he has passed the ball. Crazy!

Anthony Calvillo is now pro football's all time leader in passing yards with 72,382 and counting. The Als QB passed Damon Allen in MTL today

 

[Automattic]

Anthony Calvillo is now pro football's all time leader in passing yards with 72,382 and counting. The Als QB passed Damon Allen in MTL today

Saw that earlier. Any talks of retirement? He's got to be getting up there.

 

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BC Lions were 0-5 to start the season. Yesterday they clinched a playoff spot with the Riders losing to Edmonton.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

BC Lions were 0-5 to start the season. Yesterday they clinched a playoff spot with the Riders losing to Edmonton.

plus theyre in first (yes 3 way tie but they hold all the tiebreakers)

/pretty classy for Warren Moon and Dan Marino to send congratulation messages to Calvillo ... I think Brett Favre was too busy riding a tractor

 

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Yup, BC has a great chance of hosting a playoff game - The Stamps feel like they let one slip away on Saturday night.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

AC is certainly getting alot of attention "down south"

nice story here:
Anthony Calvillo's journey: from La Puente to pro football history - latimes.com

 

[dash]

It's a great story for a classy guy - I don't care for the Alouettes personally, but I have a ton of respect for AC.

 

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How about Brandon Browner taking a pick 94 yards to the house against bizzle's Gmen on Sunday? That had to hurt that a former CFL player put the final dagger in aginst the New York football Giants.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

How about Brandon Browner taking a pick 94 yards to the house against bizzle's Gmen on Sunday? That had to hurt that a former CFL player put the final dagger in aginst the New York football Giants.

I was really worried for him ... he has taken so many PI penalties and illegal blocks on returns at the worst times ... but hes lining up against the oppositions top wideouts every game and he played Hakeem Nicks really well Sunday

 

[puckhead]

lol... the guy who caught Calvillo's record breaking catch (Richardson) threw the ball into the stands in his TD celebration.
fortunately the fan gave it back.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

this was posted on grantland on the weekend before AV broke the record ... pretty good read

Michael Weinreb on Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo - Grantland


/i really think they could do a movie on his life

 

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this was posted on grantland on the weekend before AV broke the record ... pretty good read

Michael Weinreb on Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo - Grantland


/i really think they could do a movie on his life

As long as they include the singing of 'O Canada' from Las Vegas when AC played for the Posse...

 

[jstewismybastardson]

As long as they include the singing of 'O Canada' from Las Vegas when AC played for the Posse...

(in Don Taylor imitating Don Cherry voice) "all you young anthem singers out there, when in doubt, go with the oh christmas tree melody"

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Courtney Taylor, an unfamiliar name to most CFL fans, and a teammate most B.C. Lions have yet to know, probably was the most enthusiastic participant at Wednesday’s practice in Surrey.

After just one workout, it seems far too early to get excited about his possibilities, even though the boundlessly cheerful Taylor clearly is.

“I’ve just been humbled. This is a new beginning for me,” Taylor admitted. “I’m just excited and blessed to be back on the football field again.”

A sixth-round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2007, Auburn’s all-time leading receiver is attempting to make a comeback in the CFL after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease which attacks the nervous system.

Taylor, now 27, first became aware of a condition he knew little about in the summer of 2008 when an eye twitch made it difficult for him to track the ball, just when he was on the point of becoming a starter for the NFL team.

While an involuntary muscle contraction might not be considered a blessing, for Taylor it was. Surrounded by Seahawk medical staff, Taylor had numerous tests, including two spinal taps, before the root cause of his affliction was diagnosed.

An indication of MS required him to make regular trips to the University of Washington Medical Center for intravenous infusions of a powerful drug that contributed to sluggishness on the practice field. And while it may have compromised his ability to stay with the NFL team, Taylor still considers himself to be a lucky man.

“Had I not been playing football, it might have gone undetected,” he explained. “I might never have known, until it was more advanced. Ten years down the road, it might have been in a more progressive state.”

Subsequently released by the Seahawks, Taylor has spent the past two years praying that another team would give him a chance to catch on. Two did — the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns — but nothing came of the workouts.

“I don’t want to think it [that MS played a factor in his rejection],” Taylor said. “But I also can’t say, ‘There’s no way possible it played a role.’ But I don’t think it did.”

With the road back to the NFL apparently leading to a dead end, Taylor is appreciative and ecstatic that the Lions, just a two-hour drive north from his home in Kent, Wash., are giving him another chance to play. He keeps his MS under control by swallowing a pill and no longer requires hospital visits to treat his chronic condition.

“I’ve been out of football for a year and half,” he said. “And I’ve seen the hardships and struggles to pay bills and trying to put food on the table. I was just out there today, excited to be back on the football field again. It’s just awesome to be back.”

Taylor and Jock Sanders, a returner/receiver from West Virginia, were added to the Lions expanded practice roster Wednesday while the team released running back Shawnbrey McNeal and wide receiver Chandler Williams. Lions coach Wally Buono said McNeal wasn’t an upgrade on Michael Smith, a running back the Lions already had on their PR. And Williams’ pass catching was inconsistent in his six practice sessions with the Lions.

“They’re here for two reasons: One, we want to evaluate them. Two, we want to see if we can improve as a team,” Buono said of Taylor and Sanders. “Both of those two young guys were impressive. I would think they’re both going to be quality guys.”

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Taylor played quarterback and cornerback in high school but was moved to wideout at Auburn, where he caught 153 passes, a school record.

Sanders, 185 pounds, but only 5-foot-6, also caught a school record 206 passes as a wide receiver at West Virginia. But he also return punts and kicks and lined up as a running back, where the Lions deployed him on Wednesday. Only 23 and fresh out of college, Taylor signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent but lived to regret his choice of an NFL job fair.

“The Bucs were already loaded at returner when I got there,” Sanders said. “I should have done a little bit more homework. I made a bad decision to go there. I should have gone to a team that could really use me. They’re [Lions] using me as a running back here. Versatility is my strength, and I have an opportunity to use it now, in the CFL. Running back, receiver, special teams, I told the coach, ‘I’ll play anywhere. I just want to win.’”



Read more: New Lion Taylor just happy to get another shot at pro football

 

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Great job by the zebras marching the Argos down the field for the game winning field goal tonight (what a joke)

 

[IPostedWhat]

Anthony Calvillo is now pro football's all time leader in passing yards with 72,382 and counting. The Als QB passed Damon Allen in MTL today

That's what happens when the football field you play on for 26 years is 300 yards long and 80 yards wide.

 

[BlueandWhiteForever]

Great job by the zebras marching the Argos down the field for the game winning field goal tonight (what a joke)

Nah. The joke was getting dominated by the sad sack Argos in the first half.

 

[dash]

Riders officially eliminated from playoff contention with their loss to BC earlier today, Leos in 1st, Eskies in 2nd, Stamps in 3rd in the West division.

 

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Huff ain't messing around, Drew Tate gets the start this Friday night for the Stamps against the Riders (he did look good in the 2nd half against the Argo-nuts)

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Lions are first team in CFL history to lose first 5 games of a season and then go on to win 8 straight games later in the same season