Aug. 20, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - It has been 15 years since former Utah State quarterback Anthony Calvillo has jogged on to the field of Romney Stadium and the current Montreal Alouettes signal-caller and second-leading passer in Canadian Football League history can still picture the mountains surrounding Cache Valley.

"The one thing I remember standing out was the location of USU and the scenery," Calvillo said. "I grew up in Los Angeles, so I wasn't used to being up in the mountains and experiencing the four seasons."

When it came to football season, Calvillo did some standing out of his own.

Calvillo, who played at Utah State from 1992 to 1993, is ranked No. 31 in the NCAA record book for career total offense per game with 265.4 yards. He also holds the USU single-season total offense school record of 3,260 yards, set in 1993, as well as the school record of five touchdown passes in a game, which he accomplished twice.

While he acknowledges the records he attained during his college career, Calvillo said his favorite memory while playing at USU would probably have to be the Aggies' 1993 Las Vegas Bowl victory against Ball State.

"I remember when we got back to Romney Stadium, there were maybe 2,000 to 3,000 fans there waiting to congratulate us," Calvillo said. "That memory is something that really stands out in my mind."

Since moving to the professional ranks, the now 15-year CFL veteran has been nothing short of spectacular. Aside from recently becoming the second-leading passer in CFL history, Calvillo has also earned several CFL Most Outstanding Player honors throughout his career and has been named a CFL All-Star twice, once in 2002 and again in 2003. In 2004, he passed for 6,014 yards, becoming just the fourth player in CFL history to top the 6,000-yard single-season passing milestone. And as for Alouette team records, the former Aggie holds quite a few, including most career touchdown passes, pass attempts and pass completions.

For Calvillo though, all of this is just the icing on the cake compared to the time when he led the Alouettes to a CFL Grey Cup title in 2002.

"It's the ultimate high to play for the Grey Cup," Calvillo said. "To have that Grey Cup ring on your finger and to be able to have it as something that you can pass to your kids, it just makes winning this championship a great memory and a great thing to accomplish. That ring will be something that is in my family for forever."

Speaking of family, Calvillo and his wife Alexia are the proud parents of two girls, one age three and the other nine months. And while he may not know for sure when he will hang up his pads or what he will do after his professional career, Calvillo is certain that when the time comes to make those decisions he will consult with his family.

"I'm pretty much year to year," Calvillo said. "When the season is over, I'll sit down with my family and evaluate how my body is feeling and how my mind is feeling.

"I've always thought that I could go into coaching and teaching, and that's always an option, but as of right now I'm really not 100 percent sure on what I'm going to do."

According to Calvillo, it is possible that he would start his potential coaching career in the states, but as of right now, that notion is still something that is up in the air.

"It all depends on where the wind blows me," Calvillo said. "I'm going to go where my family wants to be and where I feel I could do a good job coaching, but there are definitely going to be more opportunities here in Canada than going back down South."

The Alouettes' starting quarterback is hoping that someday the wind will take him back to Logan for a visit. The CFL star has not been in the valley since 1995.

"Hopefully when I'm retired I will be able to come back and visit campus," Calvillo said. "I would like to see all of the different changes that have been made."

Even with all the changes on the Utah State campus and in Cache Valley, one thing will remain the same, Anthony Calvillo will always be one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history.