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May 5, 2016

Danny Mac honoured

Danny McManus

Danny McManus is entering another Hall of Fame.

Already a distinguished member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the longtime CFL quarterback earlier this week was announced as one of the 2016 inductees into the Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame.

The U.S.-based Gridiron Greats group helps former football players in need and honours individuals not only for their play on the field but also for continuing to contribute to the game after their playing careers are completed.danny-mcmanus-inset

Previous inductees with CFL ties include Marv Levy, Hugh Campbell, Matt Dunigan, George Reed, Angelo Mosca and Ray Elgaard.

Joining McManus in the Class of 2016 are Joe Namath, Don Maynard, Billy Kilmer, Daryle Lamonica and Dan Pastorini. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on June 3 in Las Vegas.

The final chapter of McManus’ CFL career was written in Calgary.

As starter Henry Burris’ backup in 2006, McManus played sparingly during his final season but he showed he could still get the job done as he completed 57.1 per cent of his passes, the third-best success rate of his career.

With 53,255 yards, McManus was the Canadian Football League’s second-leading passer of all-time when he retired and he collected three Grey Cup rings.

The championships came with three different clubs — with Winnipeg during his rookie season in 1990, with BC in 1994 and with Hamilton in 1999.

Whatever McManus lacked in natural physical gifts, he made up for in fearlessness and gumption. His play always straddled the line between courage and recklessness — he had more interceptions in his career than touchdowns passes — but the picks never made him gun-shy and he kept trying to make big plays.

“My coach at Florida State said when you win, the head coach and quarterback get all the praise, and when you lose, the head coach and quarterback get all the blame,” McManus noted in the latter stages of his career. “And I don’t mind that. I would rather take the blame, have the media come after me, than go after my players. If something went wrong, I’ll take the majority of the blame. But if we win, I push everything to the players.”

It’s an attitude that earned the respect and loyalty of his teammates.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks to play the game and has three Grey Cups to prove it,” said Hall-of-Fame receiver Darren Flutie, who played with McManus for a total of 10 seasons with three different clubs. “He believed in his receivers. He always got nailed for the interceptions, but that came from his belief in his receivers. He would just throw the ball up for them.”