ALLAN MAKI
From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 8:28PM EST Last updated on Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 2:57PM EDT
Milt Stegall had finished announcing his plans to return to the CFL for a 14th season yesterday when he was asked a question by Danny McManus, the former CFL quarterback turned TSN commentator.
"Danny McManus?" Stegall repeated. "Are you calling from an old folks' home?"
McManus is 42; Stegall recently turned 38. In terms of active, aged players that puts Stegall in the CFL's senior-citizen class. But the finely tuned, highly competitive veteran insisted he will be ready to go, yet again, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers open training camp in four months.
"I want to say I'm sorry it took so long to make my decision," said Stegall, who last year said he was 99.9-per-cent sure he was going to retire. "A lot of things came into play. My wife is pregnant [and due this summer]; there were some business things. We had to weigh everything and it looks positive so we decided to play another season."
Stegall said he and his wife made the decision last week to return to Winnipeg.
"My wife, she saw how much I wanted to play the game. She saw the passion," Stegall told the media on a conference call from his home in Atlanta. "We worked some things out and that was when it became 100 per cent, when everything worked out."
To be sure he was doing the right thing by playing again, Stegall spoke to two of his former Blue Bomber teammates, Harold Nash and Maurice Kelly.
"They've very good buddies of mine. They always tell me, 'If I could be in your position, I'd kill myself,' " Stegall said. "Those guys are still around football. Harold's coaching with the [New England] Patriots; Maurice is with the [Seattle] Seahawks. The fact they're not on the field any more is really hard on them. They said, 'As long as you can keep playing, play.' "
Stegall has caught 825 passes for 14,695 yards and holds the CFL record for most career touchdowns with 144. He is second in career receiving yards behind former Calgary Stampeder Allen Pitts. More important than the yardage record, Stegall would love to win a Grey Cup, especially after losing last November's championship game to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
As for his status as a football senior citizen, Stegall replied: "Yes, but I'm the best looking so I could fool them."
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