Rick Moffat
CFL.ca
“I think it’s always a positive sign when you can go out there and try to support a cause, and especially a cause that’s so close to my heart and my family’s heart. I’m glad the league took the initiative to do something like this,” said Anthony Calvillo
“Remission is a very sensitive word…the cancer isn’t gone,” added his wife Alexia.
Wearing their hearts on their sleeves, or more accurately their gloves, wristbands and even shoelaces, Calvillo and the rest of the Alouettes family will be playing with heavy hearts on Saturday in Winnipeg.
“We were able to persevere as a family,” says Montreal’s First Lady of Pro Football Alexia. “Even tough guys wear pink and the girls dress him up in pink all the time,” she added.
“I guarantee you every one of those guys out there has been touched in one way or another by this disease. To do this on such a big stage is wonderful.”
Both Anthony and Alexia have had total strangers approach them to share battle scars and war stories. “We’ve created this bond with people that have gone through the disease and they’re able to share that with us and we’re able to share back with them.”
“It will be emotional for our family,” admits the Montreal-native who will sit with their two daughters to watch their father wear pink on the field.
“Olivia (their youngest) was born Oct. 15 so we have our reminder of my yearly cancer date (Oct. 22, the day after AC and the Als wear pink.)
Alouettes general manager Jim Popp says that their cancer fights have made the team tighter. The Alouettes carried the burden of Calvillo’s 2010 secret until his thyroid bombshell was revealed on the turf right after the Grey Cup victory.
“We’re family and cancer has touched our family. No one who calls himself an Alouette can say they haven’t been touched by cancer. In my own family, my grandmother on my mother’s side fought breast cancer and passed away when I was little.”
“Kids think pink is cool, kids think cancer awareness is cool…they know. Anthony was scared at first, but he didn’t do it (carry the cancer secret) blindly,” reflects Alexia.
“If he thought it was life-threatening he would have had the surgery right away. He didn’t want to leave his teammates behind.
Jamel Richardson is hard to miss on the football field, and now he’s ready to think pink. The rangy receiver is thrilled the CFL is teaming up in the fight against women’s cancers.
“My grandmother passed from it and my mother just beat breast cancer so this is real big for me,” says the big-time playmaker. “The league is letting us support this so I’ll have a whole lot of pink on.”
J-Rich laughs out loud at the thought of his mother seeing him in anything pink for the first time.
“She’s going know it’s for a great cause. She’s been my biggest supporter and my everything. My grandmother was everything, so I’ll dedicate this season to those two.”
“They were always in the stands screaming their heads off and I always played great when I knew my mom was in the stands. She gives me that extra boost of energy.”
“All the Eastern Finals and Grey Cups—my mother’s been there. She’s always giving me that extra boost.”
SJ Green echoes J-Rich’s thoughts and actions on and off the field.
“I’ve had friends and family back home who’ve dealt with that so I’m definitely supporting the cause.”
The Als have one player with experience wearing pink in game situations.
“I participated in college and I’m definitely supportive because in some fashion we’ve all been touched by cancer,” says former Richmond Spider Seth Williams.
“I’ve been blessed not to have anyone in my immediate family touched by it, but I’ve had friends who have lost the battle.
“In my football family my high school coach’s son passed away due to cancer and the struggle that he had with it. He was a few years younger than me, but being close to my coach he was always there. A few more incidents—people around you – a few scares…I just want to support them.”
