Resolving to be Great: All-Time CFL Leaders - Anthony Calvillo

By Chris Lawton

It’s a New Year and 2026 has opened its doors to the world. To quote Taylor Swift, (no not that one), “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” People are making their resolutions and looking to the future. For some though it is also a time for reflection and as a lover of the history of the game I think it is a perfect opportunity to look to the past for inspiration too.

Which is why here are Touchdown Towers we thought we would look at some of the greats of the CFL past. Unlike Dickens’ Ghost of Christmas Past however, we are not here to look back at the decisions that led to disaster but rather at the great players who sit atop the CFL all-time lists, and as a bonus check out where the 2025 league leaders sit in comparison to them from an all-time perspective.

We started out with a look back at the career of the CFL all-time rushing leader, Mike Pringle, and the CFL all-time receiving leader, Geroy Simon. This time it is all about the CFL all-time passing leader, Anthony Calvillo.

Early Career – From Las Vegas to Hamilton

Anthony Calvillo’s career is a lesson for CFL followers in patience and giving talent time to develop. He started slowly before blossoming into life. Coming out of Utah State College Calvillo signed with the US expansion team, Las Vegas Posse in April of 1994.  He hardly tore it up in that first season, completing just 44% of his passes and finishing with two more interceptions than touchdowns. When the Posse folded, Calvillo was taken in the first round of the dispersal draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Calvillo had three decent, if not outstanding, seasons with the Tiger-Cats from 1995 to 1997.

He was release by the Ticats in early 1998 and signed as a backup with the Montreal Alouettes. Few people would have considered the possibility at the time but that was the first step on the road to being a team and league wide legend. He had two steady years as a backup to Hall of Fame QB Tracy Ham. Calvillo has credited Ham with resurrecting his CFL career and showing him how, “a real experienced, championship quarterback should conduct himself on and off the field. “Also, the mental preparation that came with being successful week in and week out.”

Montreal’s Starter 2000 to 2013

Calvillo took over the starting QB role in 2000 and from there on in started to put up some big numbers. That would include six seasons throwing for over 5,000 yards and one of the few CFL seasons over 6,000 yards passing.

When it comes to the Alouettes passing records, Calvillo’s name comes up repeatedly. He has more than double the yards passing (69,655 yards) with the franchise than second place man Sam Etcheverry (30,381 yards passing). He also has the top five seasons with most yards passing coming in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012. He has the highest passing per centage career for the Alouettes, five of the top six seasons for passing touchdowns and of course is the franchise leader in completions, yards, and touchdowns.

In 2011 Calvillo became the league’s all-time passing leader, surpassing Damon Allen who had held the record up to that point.  He holds the league wide records for yards, most career touchdown passes and completed passes.

More often than not successful pivots in the CFL are the scrambling dual-threat quarterbacks. Whereas Calvillo was more of the traditional drop-back passer who could read a defence quickly and get the ball out fast.

On January the 21st, 2014, Calvillo announced his retirement from playing professional football. He has since joined the coaching ranks and had success there.

Calvillo finished his career having played 329 regular season games, starting 277 of them and having left the league as the all-time leading passer. He was a league all-star five times, and East Division all-star ten times and was the Alouettes MOP and East Division MOP candidate on multiple occasions, being named league MOP three times. Calvillo also appeared in 18 postseason contests and went on to win three Grey Cups, (appearing in eight in total), all as a starter, and was the 2002 Grey Cup MVP.

He was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Comparing greatness: Calvillo versus the 2025 league leader

As we have seen, Anthony Calvillo had a remarkable, and deservedly recognised CFL career. But how does the 2025 single season leader compare and just how far would they have to go to match up to Calvillo?

The 2025 CFL receiving leader was Bo Levi Micthell who threw for 5,296 yards in 2025. His career totals now stand at 3,422 completions on 5,238 attempts for 44,319 yards and 262 touchdowns. Mitchell is a certain future Hall of Famer having been a two-time league MOP, two-time Grey Cup MOP, and the fastest quarterback to reach one hundred wins in league history. Will he ever catch up to Calvillo? To match his career stats, he would need another 35,497 yards passing and another 193 touchdowns. Mitchell is Hall of Fame bound but I am not sure he will have the longevity for this. Good luck Bo!

CHRIS LAWTON

CFL ANALYST

Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK

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