Milt Stegall
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| Milt Stegall | |
|---|---|
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| Date of birth: | January 25, 1970 |
| Place of birth: | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Career information | |
| Status: | Active |
| CFL status: | Import |
| Position(s): | SB |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Jersey №: | 85 |
| College: | Miami University (Ohio) |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1992-1995 1995-present |
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 TDs in a career - 144 Most TD receptions in a career - 141 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) (more) |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at CFL.ca | |
Milton Stegall (born January 25, 1970 in Cincinnati, Ohio), nicknamed Turtle Man (because of the shape he is in), Milt Stegall the Touchdown Beagle, "Quatre-Vingt-Cinq" and 'Chocolate Milt' is a Canadian Football League slotback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The receiver is known for his great numbers and his amazing catches at critical moments. He currently holds first place for the CFL record for most touchdowns scored (144), surpassing Mike Pringle and George Reed (137). He holds many other records including most career touchdown receptions, and is second in all-time career receiving yardage.
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[edit] High school years
Stegall attended Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a letterman in football and track.
[edit] College career
Stegall attended Miami University (in Ohio). He was a four-year football letterwinner there from 1988-91. 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.
[edit] 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. He then signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
[edit] Blue Bombers
In 1995 Stegall decided to go north to the CFL where he played the final 6 games of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 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 1997 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 – 50 min.) 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 co-ordinater 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. Assuming that he does retire at the end of this season, he will surely go down as one of, if not, the greatest CFL receiver of all time. On Sept. 15, 2007, he moved past Darren Flutie to become number two on the CFL's all time receiving yardage list. As of the end off the 2007 season Stegall has 14,634 receiving yards, only 257 yards shy of becoming the CFL's all time leader in career receiving yards.
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] He also doesn't smoke, drink, eat pork or red meat or stay up late.[4][5] Although he has played in the CFL for many years and has accomplished impressive numbers Stegall has never won the Grey Cup. Although he has reached the Grey Cup game twice; once in 2001 vs. Calgary and then in 2007 vs. Saskatchewan.
[edit] Media personality
Stegall is one of the most popular CFL players among the media, providing many quotable statements and answers for reporters.[6] He was voted the best looking man in the CFL.[7] He often gets praise form his teammates for his work ethic, personality, and leadership.[8]
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. | ” |
[edit] Personal life
Stegall and his wife Darlene are the proud parents of son Chase Hamilton. They are expecting their second child in the summer of 2008.[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.
[edit] Outstanding 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.
[edit] Career Stats
[edit] Receiving Stats
| 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 |
| Total | 13 Seasons | 825 | 14695 | 17.8 | 144 |
[edit] All-Time CFL Records
- Most TDs in a career - 144
- Most TD receptions in a career - 141
- 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 by a Bombers receiver - 14,695
- 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 one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#15) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network/TSN.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Milt Stegall Putting Off CFL Retirement", cfl.ca, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ "One More Year for Stegall", cfl.ca, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Audio and Transcript of Stegall's Teleconference", cfl.ca, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b c The Sports Network - Canadian Football League
- ^ Should I stay, or go? Stegall pontificates
- ^ TheStar.com | Sports | If Stegall quits he will leave a gaping hole
- ^ CFL.ca Network :: Official site of the Canadian Football League
- ^ Winnipeg Free Press
- ^ Winnipeg Free Press
- ^ The Canadian Press: Blue Bombers star receiver Milt Stegall says he will return next season
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/cp/football/061212/f121233A.html
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers official site
- Wheeler, Lonnie. "Ex-Bengal makes mark: Stegall developed into CFL's top wide receiver", The Cincinnati Post, E. W. Scripps Company, 2002-12-20. Archived from the original on 2004-10-28.
- Miami Redhawks Athletics
| Preceded by Khari Jones |
CFL MOP 2002 |
Succeeded by Anthony Calvillo |
