Anthony Calvillo’s induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame is no surprise, but for pro football’s all-time leading passer it's the completion of a lifetime against odds longer than any Hail Mary touchdown.

As humble a hombre who ever played the quarterback position, Anthony’s career route to the Hall has been fraught with unexpected obstacles, met always with devotion if not rare courage.

Already a five-time CFL East All-star by 2007, Calvillo left the Alouettes to be at his wife Alexia’s side when she needed a teammate in her fight against cancer. What CFL fans don’t know is how close “AC” came to never returning to the football field, never winning the Alouettes franchise’s only back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 & 2010.

“I do remember talking to Larry Smith (then Als’ president) and Jim Popp (the GM who signed him off the scrap heap of Hamilton back in ’98). At one point Alexia’s treatments were not going that well. I had to warn them I might not come back and that was difficult because you’re unsure of what your future’s gonna be.”

Truth is Anthony’s career appeared to be over before it began. He wasn’t even invited to work out for NFL scouts at his alma mater Utah State’s pro day, despite having set records and winning their first-ever Bowl game (The Las Vegas Bowl).

He heard from an obscure pro team in Italy, but declined. Ironic that years later in Montreal, some teammates and fans nicknamed him “Calzone” or mispronounced his name “Ca-VILL-io” thinking he was Italian.

Fate gave Anthony another 1st down. He heard about something called the Canadian Football League. Montreal was not on the football map then, but the expansion Vegas Posse held his rights. 

Calvillo survived tryout camp in the Riviera Hotel parking lot, trudging through the casino with gear on, and hit the jackpot with the starting job from 13 competitors at what amounted to QB roulette on the practise field. 

By the time No. 13 had won his third Grey Cup ring, the man some of his closest friends dubbed “Ese” called another shocker audible. Calvillo revealed in the minutes after the ‘10 victory that he too had a medical battle of his own and surgery looming.

“I knew so much about cancer thanks to my wife,” says Anthony, whose legacy with Alexia off the field includes the Calvillo Family Room at the Cedars Cancer Institute of Montreal’s MUHC.

He was no rah-rah guy or prone to fiery rhetoric in the locker room or in the huddle. Instead, Calvillo’s quiet leadership was a portrait of sphinx-like stoicism, often seclusion on the sideline.

Coach Marc Trestman makes no secret he knew better than to talk to his QB during games.

The cliché’ is quarterbacks are “gun-slingers”, but Calvillo did not possess the most graceful throwing motion, nor was his touch a match for the dramatic arch of a Moon. 

But when football or life was spiralling out of control, Anthony Calvillo could crack the code and find the right combination.

Mayhem on the sidelines could be blotted out. Attacking defences meant quiet reflection on the bench with the singular focus of a Rubik’s Cube genius. 

His gift was in letting the throwing hand do the mind’s work. 

Anthony always struck me as more of a simpatico safe-cracker. A Hall of Fame safe-cracker.