After Sunday's Grey Cup game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Anthony Calvillo will be one step closer to the Hall of Fame. Darian Durant hopes to move one step closer to Calvillo.
When the Montreal Alouettes take the field, Calvillo will be appearing in his seventh Grey Cup in a career that is sure to culminate with an induction to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton.
Durant will be appearing in just his first Grey Cup.
"I have a guy on this team, Omarr Morgan, who's been in this league 10 years and has never been to this point," explained Durant. "You have to take advantage of the opportunity because getting back is not guaranteed."
The 27-year-old came into training camp with more doubters than supporters, but Riders' head coach Ken Miller believed in the University of North Carolina product.
"You name it, I've heard it," explained Durant. "Doesn't have a strong enough arm, too short, doesn't have great feet. I feel like I'm ready to take my career to another level and it starts on Sunday."
After the Riders clinched first place in the West with a big win over the Calgary Stampeders, Durant explained how he has turned the negatives into a positive.
"We're all human and the thing you want to do is prove your doubters wrong,'' Durant said. "So many people tell me I can't play. I've been told that since high school. I never was supposed to be a Division 1 quarterback. To make it this far, it's just for all my naysayers."
His CFL career started inauspiciously as a negotiation list player with the now-defunct Ottawa Renegades. When that organization folded in 2005, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats added him to their negotiation list. But it wasn't until the Tiger-Cats and Roughriders completed a blockbuster deal that he got his big opportunity on the field.
Durant was acquired by the Roughriders as part of a trade involving then-Renegades' quarterback Kerry Joseph, who was high on the Roughriders wish list. But the Tiger-Cats owned the first overall pick in the Renegades' dispersal draft.
Prior to the 2006 campaign, the two teams pulled the trigger on a trade that saw receiver Corey Holmes and safety Scott Gordon dealt to Steeltown in exchange for that top pick. And by the way, the teams also traded negotiation list quarterbacks with the Tiger-Cats handing over another player they selected from the Renegades: Darian Durant.
And who was the general manager who added Durant to the negotiation list of the Renegades in the first place? Current Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman.
After starting four games last season and competing with the likes of Michael Bishop, Marcus Crandell and Steven Jyles, Durant was annointed the starter this season by coach Miller.
"He has a long way to go but he'll have a long career to get there," Miller said.
Durant justified Miller's confidence in him instantaneously by guiding the Riders to wins over the B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts in the first two weeks of the regular season, throwing for over 500 yards.
The team's nominee for Most Outstanding Player finished the year fourth in passing with 4,348 yards and second behind Calvillo in touchdowns with 24.
More importantly, Durant led his team to a record of 11-7-1, their first West Division title in over 30 years and a chance to win their second Grey Cup in three years.