Calvillo getting better with age

By Mike Johnston, sportsnet.ca

Anthony Calvillo will enter the 2012 CFL season without one of his favourite targets.

When Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Kerry Watkins announced his retirement earlier this week, no one was more surprised than the man who has thrown him the football for the past eight years.

“I was quite surprised because we talked quite a bit last year and he never mentioned that he was considering retirement,” Calvillo told sporsnet.ca.

“Once I saw the news I gave him a call and he talked about the new sports bar he’s going to be opening up. So it was a great opportunity for him.”

Watkins spent much of 2011 injured; he had a sinus infection that kept him out during training camp and he fractured his fibula late in the season. But it wasn’t the two-time CFL all-star’s injuries that ultimately lead to his decision. It was his business aspirations, and Calvillo understands where he’s coming from.

“We can’t retire and go off into the sunset in the Canadian Football League,” Calvillo said. “We have to find something to do (to earn a living after our playing days) and this was a great opportunity for him … He was very excited about this transition (into retirement) and you could hear it in his voice. You could kind of tell when somebody’s ready to call it quits and he felt that he was ready.”

In eight seasons with the Alouettes, Watkins had 515 receptions, 7,431 yards (including five straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2005-2009) and 48 touchdowns, nearly all of which came courtesy of Calvillo passes. He retires as the second-leading receiver in modern day Alouettes history behind only Ben Cahoon.

“He’s going to be missed. He was a major threat for us,” Calvillo said. “He was very productive year in and year out and the respect that (defensive backs) showed him made my job a lot easier because he would push them back and be wide open very often.”

Watkins is 32, seven years younger than Calvillo who has been dealing with questions of retirement for several years. However, Calvillo is coming off one of his best seasons as a pro and will begin his 19th season in the CFL this summer.

The three-time CFL Most Outstanding Player credits an off-season training regimen that began several years ago for his longevity in the sport.

“The biggest change for me came after the 2008 season,” Calvillo said. “That’s when my trainer sat down with me and said ‘we have to revamp everything,’ and that’s where I started paying more attention to nutrition, how I was feeding my body.

“The times that I worked out in the past it was just four times a week for an hour, hour-and-a-half a day and all of a sudden it went to five times a week, 2-3 hours a day. So he really wanted to push me as hard as I can to make sure that I played my best football in the fourth quarter … From there I just keep adding to what I’ve already accomplished in terms of training because I’ve learned in the past that you can’t be satisfied with what you’ve done before. You have to keep adding to it and that exactly what we’ve been doing.”

Last season, Calvillo threw for 5,251 yards, 32 TDs and a mere 8 interceptions. Despite those solid numbers, the Alouettes lost to Hamilton in the playoffs and didn’t make it to the Grey Cup, which is something they had become accustomed to. Calvillo believes the East Division will be even tougher in 2012.

“I thought last year the Eastern Conference was, in terms of competition, the best it’s ever been in my time in Montreal,” Calvillo said. “I feel now it’s only going to get better because of the quality quarterbacks with Henry (Burris in Hamilton) and Ricky Ray (in Toronto), with what they’ve been able to do consistently over their careers, and they have great coaches.

“It’s going to be very interesting in the East. It’s not going to change very much on how I prepare because I still have to go out and compete at the highest level week in and week out.”

In 304 career CFL games Calvillo is the league’s all-time leader in passing yards with 73,412. The three-time Grey Cup champion has thrown for 418 TDs, 205 interceptions, and has rushed for an additional 3,507 yards and 32 TDs.