LOGAN, Utah --This weekend, hundreds of Utah State students will walk across the stage in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum to collect their diplomas. In that group of soon-to-be graduates is a man who is no stranger to Aggie fans.
In 1993, Anthony Calvillo led Utah State to its first bowl win with a 42-33 victory against Ball State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Calvillo ended his college career as the MVP of that game and instantly switched his focus to his impending professional career.
In that transition period, school became less of a priority and he left Utah State 15 credits shy of his degree. Now, 21 years later, Calvillo has retired from the Canadian Football League. He is the all-time leader in all of professional football with 79,816 passing yards and is one of just five professional quarterbacks to have thrown more than 400 career touchdown passes.
With that phase of his life over, Calvillo decided to return to his education and finish his degree.
Talk about the process of finishing your degree at Utah State and how that started.
āI left school 20 years ago. When I was playing football here in Canada, it just wasnāt ever a top priority for me to finish. I was always concentrating on getting ready for the next season. The seasons kept adding up until last year when I knew I was going to retire. I decided to look into returning to school. The best option was to do a general studies bachelorās degree and finish those 15 required credits. It just came down to wanting to finish and now it was a priority. I wanted my kids to see me graduate on stage. I have two girls who are 8 and 6. It was important that they have that visual of me walking across the stage. Iām really looking forward to it.ā
Can you describe the sense of accomplishment you feel by earning your collegiate degree?
āI still have one paper to write, so all Iāve been thinking about is actually finishing. I think that once I get there, it will set in a bit. I donāt usually get too excited or emotional about anything at all. Once I get there on Saturday it will probably sink in, but right now all my focus has been on finishing and getting it done. I was never the best student, just always an average C student. I wanted to try and get Aās in these classes and Iām pretty close to doing that. Thatās part of the pressure I put on myself, to do more than what I used to do.ā
Do you plan on using your experience to influence/encourage others that this can be done, regardless of how long it has been since they have been away from their university?
āThere are a lot of guys that I played with who didnāt finish school. I was encouraging them to go back during the offseason. Do your training and go back to school. Donāt wait until youāre 40 years old to do it. Get it done, then when your football career is over, youāll have a smoother transition going into your next phase of life. Itās all about prioritizing things and thatās what I try and stress to the younger guys. Itās up to them if theyāre going to take that advice or not.ā
Did playing professional football for 20 years help in the decision-making process to return to school to finish your degree?
āI want to go into coaching and I know that down the road if I want to coach at the university or high-school levels, Iād need a degree. That added in as a factor. I really believe itās going to give me more options in the future. The fact that Iāve been able to play professional football for 20 years and establish myself, thatās the new standard for me. Itās important to me that whatever resume I put out there, whether thatās my football game or my grades, it has to be something Iām happy with. Iām very happy with what it is right now.ā
Do you plan on pursuing a post-football career immediately?
āIām taking the year off, that was always the plan. Iām going to enjoy the summer. Playing football for 20 years I havenāt had a summer off because our season ran from June to the end of November. Right now all my time has been spent on school, so now that Iām done Iām going to concentrate on getting my house in order and weāre going to travel. My wifeās family is from Europe, so weāre going to go there for five weeks. Weāll spend time in Paris, Germany and Greece. Thatās what Iām really looking forward to, taking the summer off and enjoying it. When I return to Montreal at the end of August, Iāll be more involved with the Alouettes. I wonāt go into coaching right away, Iāll probably do that in 2015.ā