The twilight years

There is a television commercial of Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo surrounded by his wife and two children in their home and he proudly states he is comfortable in his own skin.

But I wonder how much longer Calvillo will be comfortable in his football equipment?

Calvillo is 39, and this Monday at home against Toronto he has a chance to make pro football history by passing for 258 yards and surpassing the record of 72,381 set by Canadian Football League legend Damon Allen in his remarkable career. Already this season, Calvillo has erased Allen's CFL career records for touchdown passes and completions.

Calvillo has won the Grey Cup the last two years, and should his team make it a threepeat it will be the first time in the CFL since Edmonton did it as part of a record five consecutive championships between 1978-82.

Calvillo is undeniably one of the best pivots in CFL history and clearly has the skill to keep going indefinitely.

But I wonder if at some point he will look at the game from a physical perspective and decide the risk of playing is simply too great; that he could suffer an injury that would have long-lasting implications.

This season he has absorbed three tremendous hits, two of which literally knocked him out of games. Two games ago, he suffered a concussion, but he overcame it and played remarkably last week, throwing for 335 yards and three touchdown passes in a win over Winnipeg. But near the end of the game he suffered an injury, though it is not expected to prevent him from playing against Toronto.

Last year, he suffered a bruised sternum in a game against Winnipeg and was removed from the field on a stretcher. It proved to not be as serious as originally feared and he missed only one game due to a break in the schedule.

Calvillo has been a remarkably resilient quarterback who has been fortunate to avoid any long-term injuries due to a combination of athleticism, in particular a quick release, and an offensive line and running back that collectively have provided him with quality protection.

But the hits and injuries are starting to come with more regularity. Whether it's due to age - notwithstanding he takes tremendous care of his body - changes in the offence or simply bad luck, Calvillo is getting hit with more frequency. Allen had been free of injuries for most of his career, but toward the end it became more of an issue. While he deflected any notion that age had anything to do with it, there was no denying the injuries became a factor.

After the 2007 season, in which he surpassed Warren Moon's record for career passing yards, Allen decided to retire. He didn't announce it officially until the following spring, giving it plenty of thought. But in the end, Allen had nothing to prove. He had a great career, set records and did some things toward the end, such as earning Most Outstanding Player honours for the first time at age 42.

Calvillo said entering this season that he felt fine physically and suggested he could probably play for another two or three years. At the end of this season, he will have time to re-examine that. He has struggled at times this year with consistency, but is still first overall in passing yards by more than 500 yards with 3,963. At this point, he would have to be considered the frontrunner for Most Outstanding Player honours in the East. Similar to Allen, he simply defies the athletic notion that the older you get, the more your physical skills diminish.

In 2007, he aborted his season in the final two games because of ongoing shoulder issues and more importantly to be with his family while his wife, Alexia, who was battling non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, which she successfully overcame. Calvillo rebounded to win back-to-back awards as the CFL's MOP, his appreciation for the game greater than ever. His own personal scare with thyroid cancer last year - he had off-season surgery and was given a clean bill of health - further cemented that feeling.

It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season plays out for Calvillo and how he will feel physically and mentally in the off-season. He is on the verge of making pro football history, but competitively he will probably be more concerned about winning.

But with each passing season comes a time of personal reflection.

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.