Rick Moffat
CFL.ca
Future Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo has no sympathy, but current Hall of Famer Ray Elgaard and Super Bowl champ Chad Lewis beg to differ.
I thought it fitting Ben Cahoon was rocked pretty good on his milestone 1,000th catch. And that it contributed in a modest way to a stunning comeback victory.
“I wish I could remember it,” jokes Cahoon.
“No way,” insists Calvillo. “My definition of getting a receiver killed is very specific. If you can walk away, that doesn’t count! I’ve only knocked out three guys my whole career: Earl Winfield in Hamilton, Tyree Davis in Montreal …and …and I can’t remember the other guy.”
Neither can that receiver. But it wasn’t Ben.
“Without a doubt we have a special relationship, but Ben searches for contact,” says the maitre d’ of many footballs served to Cahoon. “He takes pride in delivering a hit. Close to the sideline he’ll run into somebody. I always thought he was crazy,” confesses A.C.
“I’ve never been on the cart either, so good for him,” says Elgaard, who could give as good as he could take and trash-talked Ben even before Cahoon had played his first CFL game. “When I broke Rocky DiPietro’s record (top Canadian receiver at the time) I got nailed in the back and fumbled the ball and there was a wild scramble for about 10 seconds and one of our big fat linemen recovered. It was a real cluster****. It’s a pretty good blooper. Pass on my congratulations to Ben.”
“When you talk about guys who reach milestones like mine or Ben’s or Terry’s (Vaughn), that’s one of the things we all have in common. You can’t get 1,000 catches from the hot-tub,” added Elgaard.
”I don’t know if I’d call him old-school throwback, but I sure wouldn’t call him a diva! He’s not the type to step out of bounds. He has a lot of courage and a lot of chutzpah.”
Elgaard should know. You want in your face chutzpah? He once growled over the phone to Cahoon: “You’ll never break my records!”
“Did I really say that to him?” demands Elgaard. Yes he did. And he’s the one who phoned Ben. Cold called him for a business opportunity. Cahoon said he was heading to Canada after a failed tryout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he had to beg for.
Ben’s worked the angles for every catch and every opportunity. When a junior college came to his high school, he was thrilled to be included with the top five prospects. “That recruiter never looked me in the eye.”
He cried at his favorite movie “Rudy”, but insisted on writing his own walk-on script.
“It took my wife’s father’s friend who was a neighbour to get my tape to Coach Edwards at BYU. LaVell Edwards liked that friend because they never talked football, but we forced my tape on him and I got my tryout,” recalls the man of Velcro hands.
“You get some walk-ons who’ll start for you, but not come in and make an immediate impact and a big impact like Ben,” recalls Coach Edwards from his Utah home. “All he does is get open and catch a ball. There’s always a place for guy that can perform.”
Chad Lewis reveals the other coach who Canadians must be thankful to: Andy Reid. For opportunity denied.
“I introduced Ben to Andy Reid when he was coming through Utah to receive an award,” explains the former Ram and Eagles pass-catcher, a BYU walk-on like Ben. “I said ‘Andy you have to meet Ben – we need him! You look at what Wes Welker’s meant to Tom Brady. I wanted to get Ben and plug him in to what Donovan McNabb was doing.
“Andy met him, but he’s this short, white wide receiver and you don’t think he’s the superstar he is. His heart is as big as the Rocky Mountains, but it didn’t go any further than that first introduction. If Andy’d just gone on YouTube and seen those catches I think Ben would still be playing for the Eagles.”
Cahoon and Lewis have led parallel lives. Basketball teammates in junior high then rivals at high schools a mile apart. So how come Ben never tried to recruit Chad for the Als? Lewis laughs out loud.
“He did every year. ‘Why don’t you come up and play in Montreal?’ and I’d say ‘but I’m in Philly’ and he’d say ‘but you can be done before Christmas!’
“He’s similar to Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers out there. He’s like a gymnast. He can jump over anyone. He can catch with one hand. And he’s like a cat that you drop upside down. RRRRR. He lands on his feet. The catches Ben would make at BYU would blow our minds. They were just so… unbelievable.”
Lewis can’t stop talking about Ben.
“He’s got one catch and he’s patented it. If he’s running a crossing route and the ball is thrown low and in front of him, all good receivers will dive like Superman and slide on their bellies. Ben can dive and do a front flip. It’s like Cirque du Soleil. Bro, how did you just do that? No other person I’ve seen play football can do some of the things he can do.”
“I played against Anthony Calvillo in college and that guy lit things up for Utah State. When I knew they were teamed up, I thought it was the perfect combination. I don’t think AC could have a better target: He’s reliable, tough, he runs the sweetest routes of any receiver. You can’t cover him. It doesn’t matter how fast he is. Ben will set you up and break you down.”
“He’s a little tank,” says the towering Jamel Richardson. “When I first came to Saskatchewan I said ‘who is this little dude? He’s an athlete!’”
But was he Canadian? Ben suspected his years growing up in Canada could count for something. BYU contacted the Argos who did all the research.
“Let’s keep this to ourselves,” suggested the savvy G.M., Eric Tillman, who had found a sleeper pick for the draft.
“When he told me that, I sent my tape to every CFL team,” confesses Cahoon. “There were some teams that seemed interested, but Montreal was not one of them.” The Jim Popp way.
“He’s a unique individual because he’s sincerely humble,” Lewis reminds. “He’s extremely grateful for his gifts. He’s an everyday superstar and he IS a superstar.”
“I have no doubt he’ll be a great coach because Ben has a great way of seeing football and then putting it into words. Most coaches have a hard time doing that. Ben can talk about routes and break down the footwork and break down the angle of his hips and say this is how you want to run it and to set the defender up and this is what you do to come out of it quicker. He’s gonna be an outstanding coach when he wants to,” adds Lewis.
His former college coach thinks so, too. And he hopes it is at BYU.
“In the wide open game that you play up there, to have him do what he’s done when the emphasis is on speed, it’s almost mind-boggling,” says Edwards. “As great as he is, his family and him, he’s as good a human being as you’ll run into.”
“He’s a warrior,” says Lewis. “He doesn’t do it with his mouth. He does it with his effort, with his precision and with everything he’s got. He plays football with his heart and soul.”
“If someone’s going by me, I want it to be people like Ben Cah
oon and Terry Vaughn and people who’ve earned it,” says Elgaard. “So I couldn’t be happier for the kid.”
“Think of Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Tim Brown,” suggests Alouettes Head Coach Marc Trestman. “Ben has all their attributes. Practise and preparation, extremely durable. He’s a part of everything we do.”
Is Ben already coach’s little helper?
“I tend to verbalize on the sidelines and Ben always comes up with something for me,” admits Trestman. “If he wanted to, he could (coach).”
“Ben should still be in the NFL tearing it up,” counters Lewis. “This week Michael Vick would be saying ‘Ben you’re my favourite target this week, let’s go to work.’”
“Ben is great on and off the field. His wife Kim is dynamite, the kids are awesome. He’s one of those guys you probably say ‘he’s too good to be true’. The more you get to know him you say ‘I’m grateful to know him’.”
Only CFL defensive backs will be glad when he’s gone.
