Yesterday Chicago sports fans welcomed the beginning of the new football season for the Chicago Bears. There was an uncharacteristic quiet anticipation to this season in Chicago.
At the end of last season, we lost one of the winningest coaches in the franchise's history, Lovie Smith, only one of two coaches to have taken the Bears to the Super Bowl. He was also the first African American to ever reach the Super Bowl (by a matter of hours, his friend and former roommate Tony Dungy joined him for that Super Bowl). The Bears then lost their franchise linebacker, Brian Urlacher, who was part of the 2005 Super Bowl team and had played his entire 12-year career with the Bears, being voted to the Pro-Bowl eight times. With these huge changes, Bears fans really did not know what to expect, and likely thought that this year would be lost as a re-building year.
Adding to the air of uncertainty was the unconventional choice of Marc Trestman, the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League as the new head coach of the Bears. Trestman won two Grey Cups as coach in the CFL, the equivalent of the Super Bowl. He had a successful career as an offensive coach in the NFL with several teams prior to moving to Canada. Trestman, who was a defensive end as a player, earned a chance at two Viking training camps, but never played in the NFL. So, it seemed that his history was one of always being in the shadows or behind the scenes. Despite his CFL success, not many people saw the experience as equivalent to the NFL and thus held out little hope here in Chicago.
It was a nice surprise then that the Bears held steady, and while not playing spectacular football, they played reasonably well on all sides of the ball and pulled out a clear win, exploiting some mistakes by the competitive Cincinnati Bengals.
In the midst of the broadcast one of the announcers began to flesh out Trestman's credentials and his reputation in Canada as an offensive mastermind. As one current Bear noted, the players are in respect and awe of him and see him as something of a genius. The announcer noted that Trestman arranged a meeting between his quarterback at Montreal, Anthony Calvillo, and Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, so Cutler could learn more about how to work with the offense of his new coach.
The name Calvillo (Kal-vee-yo) piqued my interest with the announcer's Spanish pronunciation. It turns out that Calvillo is one of the greatest, if not the greatest quarterback in CFL history. Some of his impressive accomplishments include:
- Most career passing yards (78,494)
- Most career touchdown passes (449)
- Most career pass completions (5777)
- Most career pass attempts (9241)
- Most career passing yards in Grey Cup games (2470 yards)
- Most completions in regular season game (44)
As it turns out, he is Mexican American and from Los Angeles. With marginal grades in high school, he was only able to attend community college at Mt. San Antonio Junior College for two years. He transferred to Utah State University in 1992 where he had a remarkable senior year as the starting quarterback. Despite this he was not drafted by the NFL and instead went to Canada where he amassed his amazing record. A few years ago, the L.A. Times did a piece that showed how easily we forget our own, even when they accomplish great things. Calvillo's own mother almost had to beg them to do the piece, despite his greatness.
Apparently, even I suffer from such Mexican amnesia. Reading about Calvillo left me wondering why we don't have more Latinos or more specifically Mexicans in the NFL. We had the famous Zendejas brothers, but they were all kickers, not the most surprising place for Mexican immigrants in the NFL, whose first love was probably soccer. But, why not more Mexican-descent players taking the center stage on the gridiron?
Well, a quick Google search jogged my memory and I did not have to look very far for Mexican Americans in the NFL. Most recently we had Mark Sanchez, also Mexican-American from Southern California, who has quickly receded this year because of an injury. Given the excellent performance of his replacement, it may be a while before he sees playing time again with the Jets.
But the list is much larger than this. Some more obvious and recent examples include Jeff Garcia and Tony Romo. Unfortunately, both of these QBs have had inconsistent careers. There have been some real greats, however, that people often forget have Mexican heritage. Jim Plunkett, a two-time Super Bowl winner and MVP and Heisman recipient was also of Mexican-descent, despite his unique last name.
And, he was not the only Mexican-American to play in a Super Bowl, Joe Kapp, who led the Minnesota Vikings to Super Bowl IV was heralded on a Sports Illustrated cover as "The Toughest Chicano."
So, it turns out that there is a rich history of Mexican Americans serving as the general on the offensive side of the ball in football. Perhaps at a park in Boyle Heights or Pilsen or East Harlem, the next great arm is getting ready.
No comments:
Post a Comment