Danny McManus

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Danny McManus (born June 17, 1965 in Hollywood, Florida) is a retired American and Canadian football quarterback. McManus spent every football season from 1990 until his retirement in 2007 in the Canadian Football League, playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, British Columbia Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Calgary Stampeders. McManus also spent the 1988 NFL season on the bench with the Kansas City Chiefs. When his team has been eliminated from the playoffs in the last two seasons, McManus has also done broadcasting work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Contents 1 College career 2 The National Football League 3 Moving north 3.1 Starting quarterback 3.2 The Hamilton years 3.3 Winding down 4 References

[edit] College career

McManus spent four seasons at Florida State University, from 1984 to 1987, coached by the legendary Bobby Bowden (McManus also went to Florida State in 1983, but was redshirted). McManus spent his first two years as a Seminole on the bench, but in 1986, despite a pair of concussions suffered the previous year, McManus was named the Seminole's offensive most valuable player, after a season that saw him come out of the backup position to end the year as the starter, throwing for 872 yards and seven touchdowns.

In 1987, McManus started every game for Florida State, leading them to an 11-1 record and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl, which they won 31-28 over the University of Nebraska. McManus, who threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in the bowl game, was named the most valuable player, and wound up with 1,984 yards and fourteen touchdowns on the year. After this season, McManus was selected in the NFL draft, but late: in the eleventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs.

[edit] The National Football League

McManus made the Chiefs out of training camp, and spent his first, and only, National Football League season on the bench as the third quarterback. During his brief time with the Chiefs, the team was woeful, going 4-11. McManus saw no action, and was released during 1989's training camp. McManus spent all of 1989 trying to catch on with another NFL team, but was unsuccessful.

[edit] Moving north

Unable to find a place to play in 1989, McManus signed with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers in time for the 1990 season. Unlike the terrible Chiefs team that he had just left, the Blue Bombers of the era were in the middle of a mini-dynasty, where they won two Grey Cups in three years. The 1990 season gave the Blue Bombers perhaps their best ending ever, as they obliterated the Edmonton Eskimos 50-11 in the 78th Grey Cup in Vancouver. McManus, the Blue Bombers' backup all year, threw for a total of 946 yards and seven touchdowns during the season, and also tossed a touchdown in the Grey Cup in a rare appearance for the backup in the championship game.

Through 1991 and 1992, McManus remained with the Blue Bombers as the backup quarterback to Matt Dunigan. McManus made his second Grey Cup appearance in 1992, again coming in for a relief stint. This time, however, the circumstances were not so good, as Dunigan had been ineffective and the Blue Bombers went on to lose the 80th Grey Cup 24-10 to Calgary at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario.

After the Grey Cup, McManus left Winnipeg as a free agent and ended up signing with the British Columbia Lions, and started three games in 1993 when starting quarterback Danny Barrett was injured. For 1994, McManus was again the backup, this time to Kent Austin. However, fate would give McManus a larger role in this season as, in the 82nd Grey Cup, Austin was knocked out of the game and McManus had to take over for the final, dramatic drive. McManus led the Lions downfield far enough for Lui Passaglia to kick a game-winning field goal, giving British Columbia a 26-23 victory over the Baltimore Football Club. It was McManus's second Grey Cup and third appearance in five years in the Canadian Football League.

[edit] Starting quarterback

In 1995, McManus was given the reins as the Lions' full-time starter. McManus threw for 4,655 yards (second in the league behind his old mentor Dunigan) and 19 touchdowns. But the Lions' efforts to defend their Grey Cup were quickly derailed come playoff time, as the Lions were defeated by the Edmonton Eskimos in the Northern Division Semi-Final despite McManus throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns.

Any ardour McManus must have felt to the Eskimos must have quickly cooled, however, as he signed with Edmonton during the off-season as a free agent following his release by British Columbia. Once again, McManus was second in the league in passing yardage for 1996, this time behind Doug Flutie, with 4,425 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. McManus led the Eskimos to second in the Western Division and the Grey Cup game, including a 68-7 slaughtering of McManus's old Blue Bombers in the Western Semi-Final. In the driving snow at Ivor Wynne Stadium, the Toronto Argonauts defeated Edmonton in the 84th Grey Cup 43-37. McManus had an excellent game despite the conditions with 413 yards and three touchdowns, but was outplayed by Toronto's Flutie, who was named the most outstanding player. McManus's only interception of the game came when Doug Flutie's brother Darren fell trying to catch a well-thrown ball, and the ball ricocheted off of Flutie and into the waiting arms of a Toronto defensive back, who returned it for a touchdown.

1997 was a slight regression for McManus, but not for the Eskimos as they won their division for the first time since 1991. McManus fell to fourth in passing yardage but was still the Edmonton nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Edmonton was hosting the 85th Grey Cup that year and hopes were high that the Eskimos would play at it, but Edmonton lost a heart-breaking Western final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-30. McManus threw for an excellent 407 yards in the game in a losing effort.

[edit] The Hamilton years

McManus left the Eskimos as a free agent for 1998, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed both the veteran quarterback and his all-time favourite receiver, Darren Flutie. McManus arrived on a talent-laden team and did not disappoint, finishing second in passing yardage for the second time in his career and becoming only the second Hamilton quarterback to pass for over 4,000 yards in a season. The Tiger-Cats warred with the fast-rising Montreal Alouettes and their veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo all season, including a rare tie in a regular-season meeting between the two teams. Hamilton and Montreal finished even at 12-5-1, but Hamilton took first place on their superior head-to-head record. When the two teams inevitably clashed in the East final, Hamilton took a thriller 22-20. However, all-star quarterback Jeff Garcia and his Calgary Stampeders beat Hamilton 26-24 in the 86th Grey Cup.

Despite the disappointment of 1998, McManus rebounded in superb fashion for 1999. Throwing for 5,334 yards and 28 touchdowns, McManus won his first, and only, Most Outstanding Player award. The icing on the cake came on the 87th Grey Cup, where McManus thwarted the Stampeders' drive for a repeat in a rematch of the previous year's championship game. Garcia was gone to the NFL but his replacement Dave Dickenson had proven very dangerous; however, the Tiger-Cats took their first Grey Cup since 1986 with a 32-21 victory. It was McManus's third Grey Cup and his sixth appearance in the big game.

In 2000, McManus set the CFL record with six straight seasons throwing for at least 4,000 yards. But, after their Grey Cup victory, the Tiger-Cats were beginning to enter a long spiral to the East Division basement. The team finished a disappointing 9-9 and lost the East Semi-Final to Winnipeg. 2001 was a slight resurgence as the Tiger-Cats finished 11-7, but another loss to Winnipeg in the East Final sent the Tiger-Cats home early. By 2002, the Tiger-Cats were running on fumes and went down to 7-11, ahead of only the expansion Ottawa Renegades. For the first time in his CFL career, Danny McManus missed the playoffs.

[edit] Winding down

McManus turned 38 during the 2003 CFL season, and the retirement talk was coming in hard. It would be hard for it not to, however, as the Tiger-Cats were one of the worst teams in Canadian football history that year. McManus was part of the problem rather than the solution, as despite starting fifteen games, he threw for only 2,869 yards, snapping his record streak of consecutive 4,000 yard seasons at eight. McManus might have been hurt by the loss of preferred target Darren Flutie to retirement, but the small receiver had caught for only 929 yards in 2002 anyway. The Tiger-Cats finished 1-17, with the only bright spot being an overtime victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

2004 was significantly stronger for McManus, as was his team. For the second time in his career, McManus threw for over 5,000 yards despite turning 39 early in the season. The Tiger-Cats shocked the Canadian football world by finishing 9-8-1, an accomplishment amazing enough for rookie head coach Greg Marshall to be named coach of the year and McManus to receive the Rogers-AT&T Fan Choice Award, sharing it with Anthony Calvillo. In Hamilton's sole playoff game, they lost the East Semi-Final to rivals Toronto 24-6.

For the 2005 season, much of the league was wondering if Hamilton's surprise 2004 was a fluke. It transpired that it was. The Tiger-Cats finished in the league's basement at 5-13, with a defense that allowed 583 points, the worst in Canadian Football League history. In Toronto, grandfather Damon Allen was the league's only quarterback older than McManus and was named the most outstanding player of the league, but McManus looked like Father Time had caught up to him with a vengeance. He threw for only 2,544 yards and eleven touchdowns, and spent time on the bench in favour of a rogue's gallery of ineffective quarterbacks. McManus, Khari Jones, Marcus Brady, and the unknown Kevin Eakin all took at least thirty passes that year, with McManus possibly the least effective of the bunch with only a 67.1 quarterback rating.

After the 93rd Grey Cup, McManus was traded to the newly-crowned league champion Edmonton Eskimos in a package that included as the centrepiece Edmonton quarterback Jason Maas. This was the first time McManus had ever been traded in his career and his second go-round with Edmonton.

On March 31, 2006, McManus was traded for the second time in his career, this time to the Calgary Stampeders. Edmonton received a third round draft pick in the 2006 Canadian College Draft in return.

McManus announced his retirement from football on April 2, 2007.^[1]

Preceded by Mike Pringle	CFL MOP 1999	Succeeded by Dave Dickenson
Preceded by Jeff Garcia	Grey Cup MVP 1999	Succeeded by Robert Drummond

[edit] References