THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — As practice ended Tuesday, the Montreal Alouettes knelt in a circle and, with team chaplain Tom Paul, prayed for the wife of quarterback Anthony Calvillo.
Calvillo has taken indefinite leave from the CFL club while his wife, Alexia Kontolemos, who gave birth to their second child last week, awaits results of a biopsy on what the team called a "pulmonary problem."
Als coach and GM Jim Popp would not say if cancer or another deadly disease was suspected but said it was "potentially" life-threatening.
"I’m not a doctor and they don’t have all the answers yet," said Popp. "They’ll run tests for a couple of days and we’ll have more of a definitive answer then.
"It will be up to the discretion of the Calvillos what they want and don’t want released."
Back-up Jason Maas ran plays with the first team Tuesday and is to start Saturday against the Stampeders in Calgary if Calvillo can’t play. Marcus Brady should also see playing time.
Popp said Kontolemos, a Montreal native, wasn’t feeling well before and after giving birth.
"They went in for routine x-rays (Monday) and discovered something they weren’t expecting to discover, but which they have to do further tests to confirm," Popp said. "I know Dr. (Vincent) Lacroix said it was flooring and shocking to him.
"He never thought of what they think they have here when they sent her in for X-rays. They thought maybe a blood clot on the lung because she was having difficulty at times. In her younger days, she had asthma and they thought she may have had a bit of a recurrence of that. And what they think they’ve discovered here is much bigger than that."
Some teammates visited the Calvillos in the hospital on Monday night. Popp said she may be released for a day or two until the test results come in to be with her family. As well as the new-born Olivia, the Calvillos also have a two-year-old daughter Athena.
Two weeks ago, Calvillo was uncertain if he could play a game in Toronto because his daughter’s birth was due any day, but all seemed resolved when Olivia was born after the team came home from the game.
The latest news made for a sombre mood at Olympic Stadium.
"A good friend and his family are suffering — it makes you not want to go run around," said Calvillo’s favourite passing target and teammate since 1998, slotback Ben Cahoon. "It makes you want to know what you can do to help out."
"I say my prayers to A.C. and his family," added Brady. "This is bigger than football.
"I just hope things go well. We’re definitely playing this game for him and his family."
Kontolemos is active in charity events run with the other players’ wives and with team owners Bob and Lisa Wetenhall. The Calvillos live year-round in Montreal.
Calvillo, 35, recently signed a one-year contract extension to play a 15th CFL season, and 10th with Montreal, next year.
It was been a difficult season for himself and the team, which is 7-9 and in danger of missing the playoffs if it cannot win at least one of its final two games and if Edmonton, fourth in the West, wins its last two.
Calvillo was the league’s outstanding player in 2003 — his second of four straight seasons with more than 5,000 passing yards.
With 53,050 career passing yards, the Los Angeles native is likely to pass Danny McManus (53,255) for second place all-time in his next game or two. He is already second in career completions with 3,792.
Calvillo missed three games in mid-season with a torn rotator cuff. Brady took over as the starter and went 1-2. Now, it appears Maas will get the start.
"It’s not the way you want to get to start a game, but I have to be professional about it," said Maas. "Hopefully, I’ll do the job — execute the plays and get the ball to the playmakers.
"It’s a tough stretch coming up, with two road games to decide whether or not we make the playoffs. But if we can play two really good games and get into the playoffs, you never know what could happen."
