Milt Stegall

Milt Stegall
Date of birth:	January 25, 1970 (1970-01-25) (age 39)
Place of birth:	Cincinnati, Ohio
Career information
Status:	Retired
CFL status:	Import
Position(s):	SB
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	185 lb (84 kg)
College:	Miami University
Organizations
As player:
1992–1995 1995–2008	Cincinnati Bengals Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star:	1997, 2000–2007
Awards:	Most Outstanding Player (2002)
Honors:	TSN Top 50 CFL Player
Records:	Most career TDs: 147 Most career TD receptions: 144 Most career receiving yards: 15,071 Most TDs in one season: 23 (2002) Most TD receptions in a season: 23 (2002) Most yards per catch in a season: 26.5 (1997) (more)
Playing stats at CFL.ca
Playing stats at NFL.com

Milton "Milt" Stegall (born January 25, 1970) is a former professional gridiron football player who was an All-Star receiver playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He is considered by many to be the greatest receiver in CFL history and holds several major CFL records including receiving touchdowns, career receiving yards, and most touchdowns scored.

Contents 1 Early years 2 College career 3 NFL career 4 Blue Bombers 5 Media personality 6 Personal life 7 Accomplishments 8 Career statistics 9 CFL records 10 Notes 11 External links

Early years

Stegall was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Roger Bacon High School, where he was a letterman in football and track.

College career

Stegall attended Miami University, where he was a four-year football letter winner from 1988 to 1991. Stegall finished with 106 receptions for 1,581 yards, and eight touchdowns as a wide receiver. Because of his speed (he competed on Miami's track and field team where he holds the 3rd fastest 100 meter dash, 10.44 seconds, and 5th fastest 200 meter dash, 21.24 seconds) he was also a dynamic kick returner, setting a career record of 1,377 kick return yards which lasted until 2002, beaten by defensive back Milt Bowen, who like Stegall signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after college. All of these accomplishments garnered Stegall an honorable mention all-Mid-American Conference selection as a junior.

NFL career

Stegall signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played 21 games over 3 seasons, where he had four receptions for 43 yards and one touchdown. He was primarily played as a kick returner though, where he totaled 446 yards off of 26 kickoffs and made five tackles on special teams. In the 1995 season, he was signed as a free agent of the Green Bay Packers, but was a late cut.

Blue Bombers

In 1995, Stegall decided to go north to the Canadian Football League and signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers where he played the final 6 games of the 1995 CFL season, obtaining 469 receiving yards, and two punt returns, one for 80 yards. In his first full season in 1996, he gained 613 yards receiving on 34 catches for 6 touchdowns.

Stegall started out as a wide receiver, garnering him an All-Star selection in the 1997 season after having a 1616 yard season. Soon however, Stegall made the switch to slotback which let him start the play closer to the middle of the larger field. Stegall flourished as a slotback, where in the CFL a player is allowed a running start before the play to gain momentum, being able to out run defenders with his impressive speed. Stegall would go on to get 3 more All-Star selections as a slotback, peaking in 2002 where he had one of the greatest individual seasons in CFL history. He led the CFL in receptions (106), receiving yards (1,896), yards from scrimmage (1,896), touchdowns (23), receiving touchdowns (23), 100-yard games (10), 100-yard receiving games (10), average yards per catch (17.9) and non-kicker scoring (140). He set a new league single-season record for touchdowns with 23 and a new league single-season record for receiving touchdowns, also with 23. All of these made him the obvious choice the CFL's Most Outstanding Player, which he won.

Stegall has continued his excellence throughout the seasons with the Blue Bombers. In 2005 at age 35, some thought Stegall's play would be on the decline, but he shrugged off critics by capping off the season with his 5th All-Star selection. Amidst endless offensive coordinator changes, as well as many head coach changes, Stegall still has remained a reliable, and at times unstoppable force for the Blue Bombers. Arguably one of the most popular Bombers of all time he was named to the All-Time 75th Anniversary Team. With the 2005 season over, there was speculation that Stegall would retire, but he soon announced that he would in fact be returning for, at least, one more year. In the 5th game of the Bombers' 2007 season, July 27, 2007, Milt Stegall became the all-time CFL touchdown leader on a 1-yard pass originally designed as a running play for the occasion, surpassing running backs Mike Pringle and George Reed, and went on to score another major before the end of the game to bring his total up to that point to 139 touchdowns. Stegall said that he was 99.9% sure that he was going to retire after then 2007 season^[1] but on January 31, 2008, announced he was returning to the Bombers for another year. (He also signed for an option year in 2009)^[2][3] Stegall has attributed his long and consistent career to a strict work out, which he does with Joe Montford.^[4]

On September 12, 2008, Stegall initially tied Allen Pitts with a 16 yard touchdown reception to become the CFL's all time leader in career receiving yards. Shortly thereafter, Stegall surpassed Pitts with a highlight reel 92 yard touchdown catch and run, totaling 14,982 yards in his career.

Although he has played in the CFL for many years, has accomplished impressive numbers, and is considered by many to be the greatest receiver in CFL history, Stegall never won the Grey Cup, although he has reached the Grey Cup game twice: 89th Grey Cup vs. Calgary and 95th Grey Cup vs. Saskatchewan.^[5]

Stegall officially retired from professional football on February 18, 2009.^[6]

Media personality

Stegall is one of the most popular CFL players among the media, providing many quotable statements and answers for reporters.^[7] He was voted the best looking man in the CFL.^[8] He often gets praise from his teammates for his work ethic, personality, and leadership.^[9]

Arguably his most famous quote is:

“

There's only six guarantees in this world. Death, taxes, trouble, Milt Stegall being on time, Milt Stegall being pretty, Milt Stegall being in tip-top shape. There are only six guarantees.

”

^[9]

Personal life

Stegall and his wife Darlene are the proud parents of two sons, Chase and Colin. Stegall made it clear one of the conditions he would hold off retirement and return to playing was if his wife gave birth in the city. ^[10] He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.^[4] In the off-season, Stegall likes to invest in the real estate market and owns property in Cincinnati, Ohio and Atlanta.

Accomplishments

On July 20, 2006, Milt Stegall scored the winning 100-yard touchdown reception to lead the Blue Bombers to a 25-22 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos with no time left. Milt Stegall had 254 yards in the game, perhaps the best game of his career.

On December 12, 2006, Stegall signed a one-year contract extension to stay with Winnipeg for the 2007 season, but indicated that "there's basically no chance" that he will return beyond 2007.^[11]

On June 28, 2007, Milt Stegall scored the game tying touchdown versus the Edmonton Eskimos to tie the all-time touchdown record, shared with George Reed and Mike Pringle at 137 Touchdowns.

On July 27, 2007, Milt Stegall became CFL's all-time touchdown leader after scoring his 138th touchdown against the Hamilton Tiger-cats. He managed to score two touchdowns that night, and stands at 144 Touchdowns as of October 28th, 2007.

On August 24, 2007, The Premier of Manitoba honoured Stegall with the Order of the Buffalo Hunt.

On August 24, 2007, The Mayor of Winnipeg honoured Stegall with the key to the city. He also was honoured with a street in Winnipeg adjacent to Canad Inns Stadium formerly called Arena Road (in reference to the former Winnipeg Arena) which was renamed Milt Stegall Drive.

On September 12, 2008 Milt Stegall becomes the leader in receiving yards moving past Allen Pitts previous record. The record is now 15,165 yards held by Milt Stegall.

Career statistics

Receiving

Year	Team	Receptions	Yards	YPC	TDs
1995	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	25	469	18.8	4
1996	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	34	613	18.0	6
1997	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	61	1616	26.5	14
1998	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	32	403	12.6	7
1999	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	73	1193	16.3	7
2000	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	78	1499	19.2	15
2001	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	81	1214	15.0	14
2002	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	105	1862	17.7	23
2003	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	68	1144	16.8	15
2004	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	68	1121	16.5	7
2005	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	52	1184	22.8	17
2006	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	77	1252	16.3	7
2007	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	69	1108	16.1	8
2008	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	30	470	15	3
Total	14 Seasons	855	15165	17.8	147

CFL records

• Most TDs in a career - 147
• Most TD receptions in a career - 144
• Most TDs in one season - 23 (2002)
• Most TD receptions in one season - 23 (2002)
• Most yards per catch in a season - 26.5 (1997)
• Most yards receiving in a CFL career -15,071
• Most yards in one season by a Bombers receiver - 1896 (2002)
• Most 1000+ yard receiving seasons by a Bombers receiver - 10
• CFL Most Outstanding Player - 2002
• Named as receiver in top passing tandem in CFL history together with Khari Jones
• Voted 15th of the CFL's Top 50 players of the modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

Notes

External links

• Winnipeg Blue Bombers official site
• Wheeler, Lonnie (2002-12-20). "Ex-Bengal makes mark: Stegall developed into CFL's top wide receiver". The Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company). Archived from the original on 2004-10-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20041028134954/http://www.cincypost.com/bengals/2002/lonnie12-20-2002.html. 
• Miami Redhawks Athletics

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Khari Jones	CFL MOP 2002	Succeeded by Anthony Calvillo

v • d • e Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award 1953: Billy Vessels • 1954: Sam Etcheverry • 1955: Pat Abbruzzi • 1956: Hal Patterson • 1957: Jackie Parker • 1958: Jackie Parker (2×) • 1959: Johnny Bright • 1960: Jackie Parker (3×) • 1961: Bernie Faloney • 1962: George Dixon • 1963: Russ Jackson • 1964: Lovell Coleman • 1965: George Reed • 1966: Russ Jackson (2×) • 1967: Peter Liske • 1968: Bill Symons • 1969: Russ Jackson (3×) • 1970: Ron Lancaster • 1971: Don Jonas • 1972: Garney Henley • 1973: George McGowan • 1974: Tom Wilkinson • 1975: Willie Burden • 1976: Ron Lancaster (2×) • 1977: Jimmy Edwards • 1978: Tony Gabriel • 1979: David Green • 1980: Dieter Brock • 1981: Dieter Brock (2×) • 1982: Condredge Holloway • 1983: Warren Moon • 1984: Willard Reaves • 1985: Mervyn Fernandez • 1986: James Murphy • 1987: Tom Clements • 1988: David Wiliams • 1989: Tracy Ham • 1990: Mike Clemons • 1991: Doug Flutie • 1992: Doug Flutie (2×) • 1993: Doug Flutie (3×) • 1994: Doug Flutie (4×) • 1995: Mike Pringle • 1996: Doug Flutie (5×) • 1997: Doug Flutie (6×) • 1998: Mike Pringle (2×) • 1999: Danny McManus • 2000: Dave Dickenson • 2001: Khari Jones • 2002: Milt Stegall • 2003: Anthony Calvillo • 2004: Casey Printers • 2005: Damon Allen • 2006: Geroy Simon • 2007: Kerry Joseph • 2008: Anthony Calvillo (2×)