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January 28, 2016

Barrett’s triple play

QB Danny Barrett throws a pass against Saskatchewan

Over a 14-year period, quarterback Danny Barrett had no fewer than three tours of duty with the Calgary Stampeders.

And what’s especially notable is that each chapter of his Stamps career was very different with a unique set of circumstances.

For starters, when Barrett arrived in Calgary in 1983 after completing his collegiate career with the Cincinnati Bearcats, the 22-year-old Floridian apprenticed under Bernard Quarles and nine-year CFL veteran Gerry Dattilio.QB Danny Barrett during Stamps practice

The following year, Greg Vavra made the jump to the pros after leading the University of Calgary to a Vanier Cup title and shared the majority of the quarterback reps with Quarles. That means that over his first two seasons in Calgary, Barrett threw just 102 passes for 532 yards, three touchdowns and nine interceptions.

In 1985, Joe Barnes and Rick Johnson were added to the Stamps’ QB depth chart and it was decided that the best way for Barrett to see the field would be as a receiver. The experiment worked pretty well — Barrett was the team’s second-leading receiver with 32 receptions for 455 yards — but the book was closed on the first Calgary chapter of his career as a result of a September trade to the Toronto Argonauts.

Barrett joined the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals in 1986 before returning to the CFL and spending two seasons with the Argos.

That was followed by a trade back to the Stampeders and Phase II of his career in Red and White. Unlike the first time around at McMahon Stadium, when he was well down on the depth chart, Barrett was handed the controls after the Stamps had gone primarily with a combination of Rick Worman, Erik Kramer and Carl Fodor at quarterback in 1988. The result was a four-win improvement — from 6-12 to 10-8 — and the first playoff game at McMahon in a decade.

Barrett continued to get the majority of the playing time over the next two seasons and in 1991 he was on the launching end of one of the most famous passes in Stampeders history — a 67-yard strike to Pee Wee Smith with 1:02 left to play that allowed Calgary to upset Edmonton in the West final.

The Stamps fell to Toronto in the subsequent Grey Cup contest but Barrett nevertheless managed to set a championship game record with 34 completions.

That game proved to be the swan song for Barrett’s second stint with the Stamps as the Doug Flutie era started the following season. In addition to making way for the all-star quarterback, the Barrett trade to BC allowed the Stamps to acquire Rocco Romano and Jamie Crysdale, a pair of offensive linemen who went on to distinguished careers with the Stamps and enshrined on the club’s Wall of Fame.QB Danny Barrett and his Stamps teammates on horses

Meanwhile, Barrett enjoyed success with the Lions — including a then-record 601-yard passing game in 1993 — and also saw time with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1994 and 1995 before returning to the Stamps for a curtain call in 1996.

By this time, Jeff Garcia was entrenched as the Calgary starter and Barrett was the veteran backup. Barrett remained in Calgary one more season as quarterbacks coach in 1997 — when one of his pupils was rookie Dave Dickenson — before joining the Lions staff in 1998.

As luck would have hit, the Lions were hit hard by injuries that season and Barrett briefly had to suit up as an active player.

In 2000, Barrett became head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and remained there through 2006. He then spent time in the U.S. college ranks with the University of Buffalo and the University of Central Florida before recently being hired as running backs coach for the Miami Dolphins.