In the wake of winning the 98th Grey Cup, Anthony Calvillo revealed he needs surgery on his thyroid.
EDMONTON — Anthony Calvillo had just emerged from what we thought was the fight of his life.
He had been abused by the Saskatchewan Roughriders defence all afternoon in Edmonton, hit more often and with greater force in this Grey Cup game, than in any calendar month of the regular season.
But with the focus of a diamond cutter he stayed on task, leading his Alouettes to an old-school, grind-it-out, 21-18 Grey Cup victory.
Then he sat down at the podium after the game, with his voice cracking and revealed that this game may have merely been his own personal undercard.
"In the next week or so I’ll be heading for surgery on my thyroid, to remove a lesion that, uh, they’re not sure what it is," said Calvillo. "I didn’t want to say a dang thing, but the emotions got the better of me. That’s where I’m at right now."
Where the Alouettes are at is somewhere between Redemption Ave. and I-Told-You-So St. They are winners for the first time in the franchise history, of back to back CFL championships.
Where their 38-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback is at, well, we’re not entirely sure.
Neither is he.
"They said, they can’t wait any longer," he said of the surgery.
In the post-game dressing room he had grabbed a Grey Cup full of champagne and put it to his lips. Those who were there wondered why he never really took the kind of drink a champion usually takes, instead letting the champagne roll down his chin.
"This thing has been bottled up in me for a while," he said. "I’ve been only able to share it with my wife and close ones. Now I have nothing else to look forward to on the football field. I have to look forward to getting this surgery done."
It was after the Aug. 19th game against Winnipeg, when Calvillo injured his sternum that the examining doctors found something else. They took a biopsy, which proved inconclusive, after finding a large lesion on his thyroid.
"The doctors said, no matter what happens — whatever they find after they take out the lesion, take out basically half of my thyroid … that I’ll be ready to play football next year. It’s something we’ll have to address, after we find out what’s inside my throat."
Calvillo has had a ringside seat at this fight before.
Back in 2007, after giving birth to their second daughter, Calvillo’s wife Alexia Kontolemos, was diagnosed with cancer.
She had B-cell lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin's tumour of the lymph glands and lymph nodes. The tumor was located in the cavity of her chest, between her lungs.
She came through it fine, after going through chemotherapy. Calvillo will find out what lies ahead for him soon enough.
The same man, who picked himself up off the Commonwealth Stadium turf time and time again Sunday, to face the marauding green horde, couldn’t hide it afterwards.
He’s scared.
"Now the season’s over ... it is reality. It’s kind of setting in," he said. "Even when my wife was going through the cancer, football was an outlet for me. Football gave me the opportunity to not think about it. I don’t have football anymore, now."
If this was Calvillo’s last game — and we wouldn’t put a dollar on that — it was one that showed him to be what he surely is: the consummate pro.
There were few big plays in this game, few swings in momentum. Instead, the teams slugged it out through three quarters tied 11-11 and even in the Saskatchewan dressing room they had to admit it: Calvillo’s offence simply churned out the requisite yards at the requisite times, to win a Grey Cup game that was typically up for grabs until the final minute.
"It’s a different type of feeling," said Saskatchewan receive Andy Fantusz, who had four catches but only one truly big play. "Last year we just felt like gave it away and this year, it was a battle. They definitely made more plays."
Added Wes Cates: "Montreal played good enough to win. They deserved to win. Congratulations."
This game was so well played that it was boring at times. The only turnover came with 56 ticks left on the clock, when Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant finally succumbed, throwing up a wobbly prayer that landed in enemy hands.
It was a flaw that never wormed its way into Calvillo’s game, whose workmanlike day (29-for-42, 336 yards) reeked of a guy who has played in eight of these title games, since 2000.
"A.C. when he had to run, he ran. When he had to stick in there he stuck in there," said Grey Cup MVP Jamel Richardson. "We just kept grindin’, kept grindin’, and we pulled it out."
And now, the grind belongs to Calvillo alone.
"Everyone knows our history of losing these games," he said as he sat down after Sunday’s game.
And with this coming fight?
We’ll take A.C.
You can have the points.
