MONTREAL – Anthony Calvillo was called one of the CFL’s all-time greats as his No. 13 banner went up on the wall at Percival Molson Stadium on Monday afternoon.
The league’s all-time passing leader, who retired after 20 seasons in January, had his jersey retired in a ceremony at half time of the Montreal Alouettes’ game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Watch: Anthony Calvillo announces his retirement
The crowd stood and cheered as Calvillo climbed onto a stage on the field with his wife Alexia and daughters Athena and Olivia. He was greeted by three teammates from his early years – quarterback Tracy Ham, running back Mike Pringle and fullback Bruno Heppell.
“He was the greatest quarterback the CFL has ever seen,” Ham told the crowd.
Calvillo’s favourite receiving target, Ben Cahoon, was absent, but was among a group who had recorded messages played on the scoreboard, including NFL passing leader Brett Favre, former Alouettes safety Barron Miles and Hall of Fame offensive tackle Uzooma Okeke.
READ MORE: Calvillo honoured at Percival Molson Stadium and on Twitter
Favre told Calvillo “Congratulations on a wonderful career. Well done, my friend.”
Calvillo, 42, announced his retirement after missing the second half of the 2013 with a concussion suffered in a game against the Roughriders.
He went out as the league’s all-time passing leader with 79,816 yards, including seven seasons of more than 5,000 yards. He threw for a career-best 6,041 yards in 2004.
He also holds career CFL records for pass attempts (9,437), completions (5,892) and touchdowns (455), with only 224 interceptions.
The Los Angeles native won three Grey Cups and was named the league’s outstanding player in 2003, 2008 and 2009.
Pringle told the crowd he hoped to return in a few years when Calvillo will certainly get into the hall of fame.
Calvillo began his CFL career in 1994 with the defunct Los Vegas Posse and moved the next season to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
He signed with Montreal in 1998 to be Ham’s backup and took over the starting job in 2000.
The Alouettes used the 13th of October to retire Calvillo’s jersey, following the lead of the Montreal Canadiens, who have matched the jersey with the day number in more recent retirement ceremonies.
Calvillo’s is the 10th number retired by the Alouettes, after Virgil Wagner (78), Herb Trawick (56), Sam Etcheverry (92), Hal Patterson (75), George Dixon (28), Pierre Desjardins (63), Peter Dalla Riva (74), Junior Ah You (77) and Pringle (27).
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