HAMILTON - He was booed out of Steeltown when he finished a dismal 1997 season as the Hamilton Tiger-Cat’s starting quarterback. Now Anthony Calvillo, No. 1 pivot of the Montreal Alouettes, can fondly remember Ivor Wynne Stadium as the place he notched a mark in the CFL history books.

Calvillo, 35 years old and a 15-year CFL veteran, passed for 293 yards on 25 of 37 pass attempts in a 33-10 win over the Ticats to open the 2008 CFL season.

That moved him past Danny McManus to become the league’s second-leading all-time passer with 53,343 yards, behind only Damon Allen with 72,381 yards.

McManus is now third on the list with 53,255 yards.

Calvillo came into the game needing 205 yards to move into second place. He surpassed the mark late in the third quarter on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jason Armstead, who came to Montreal this season from the Ticats.

That Calvillo jumped past former Ticat QB McManus, and that he did it in Hamilton, is sweet irony for the Utah State grad who began his CFL career in Las Vegas before playing in Hamilton from 1995 to 1997.

During those lean years under coach Don Sutherin, the Ticats regularly finished with losing records, including a 2-16 season in 1997. The next year, Ron Lancaster came in to head up what became somewhat of a golden era for the Ticats. McManus was brought in and immediately led the team to a Grey Cup appearance in 1998 and then a Grey Cup win in 1999.

Meanwhile, Calvillo resurfaced in Montreal and rebooted his career.

“I think it’s ironic just because I passed 50,000 yards here (in Hamilton) and I moved into second place here, but everything changed when I went to Montreal,” he said. “They (the Als) had great teams with great talent. I definitely couldn’t do this myself. I needed the help of all the guys on this football team.”

Lancaster remembers phoning Calvillo when he became head coach prior to the ‘98 season and the pivot told him he didn’t want to return as a Ticat. At the time, he knew McManus was coming.

“The fans were down on him and he just said he wanted to get out of here,” said Lancaster.

Lancaster, who is fourth on the all-time passing list with 50,535 yards (1960-78), said he wasn’t surprised to see Calvillo succeed elsewhere.

“He didn’t have a lot work with (in Hamilton) from what I remember,” he said. “You learn something in good times and you learn in the bad times. I give him credit. He hung in there and he got his career straightened out.”