By Stampeders.com Staff
By the turn of century, with a decade of brilliance behind him, Allen Pitts had accomplished just about everything a Canadian Football League receiver could.
The Calgary Stampeders slotback was the league’s all-time leader in receptions. He was a six-time all-Canadian. A two-time Grey Cup champion. Author of one of the great individual seasons by a player at any position in any sport – an other-worldy 1994 campaign that featured 126 catches, 2,036 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns.
What the great Cal-State Fullerton alum didn’t have is a catchy nickname like some of the other great CFL pass-catchers of the past, such as Prince Hal Patterson, Gluey Hughie Campbell or Swervin’ Mervyn Fernandez.
A Calgary newspaper tried to remedy that by running a contest in which readers were asked to submit suggestions for a new handle – 18-Wheeler, a reference to the receiver’s jersey number, and Sticky Mitts Pitts were two of the more memorable proposals – but nothing ever truly stuck beyond the less-than-imaginative “Pittsie.”
Or, you could simply refer to him as “Hall-of-Famer” – he was inducted in 2006 – or “The Greatest Receiver in Stampeders History.”
Pitts still owns every significant receiving record in club history including career marks of 966 catches, 14,891 yards and 117 touchdowns. Some of the quarterbacks who smartly threw the ball in his direction during his 11 seasons with the Red and White included Danny Barrett, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson.
“I played with Geroy (Simon) with the BC Lions and watched Milt (Stegall) in Winnipeg for years and while they were superstars,” said Dickenson. “Allen Pitts was even better. In fact, I would say that he used the motion of the CFL game to his advantage much better than any other receiver in the league.”
While fans were dazzled by his exploits, those who saw him on a daily basis marvelled at his work ethic.
“Allen Pitts was a treat to coach,” said John Hufnagel, who was the Stampeders’ offensive coordinator during the first seven seasons of Pitts’ career. “He was six-foot-four, 210 pounds and skilled, but he had a drive to him probably similar to what they talk about with Jerry Rice.
“Each day after practice, Allen would grab a quarterback and he would do the pass-route tree in the end-zone – one to the right and once to the left. And he just ran all day in practice. He would take the offensive reps and then he would go and take the scout-team reps. That’s just the work ethic that he had.”
The comparison to Rice is fitting because Pitts acknowledged that the San Francisco 49ers star was a major influence.
“He was probably somebody that I looked at the most,” said Pitts. “Everything that I ever heard about him was about hard work and the only way that he got to the level that he was at was by hard work. That’s why I told myself, ‘This is how I’m going to do it.’ ”
“Allen Pitts had a tremendous drive to be a winner,” said Wally Bono, Calgary’s head coach for the entirety of Pitts’ career. “He worked extremely hard to do that.”
Pitts had a simple explanation for his blue-collar approach to the sport.
“I worked hard, not to get into the Hall of Fame,” he said, “but to show my gratitude to the fans.”
Off the field, Pitts was an introvert – the exact opposite of the Stamps receiver who also had a glorious 11-year career with the Red and White, Nik Lewis. While always appreciated and respected by those closest to him, Pitts was an enigma to others.
“Allen was one of the quietest people we’ve ever had in that dressing room,” said veteran Stamps equipment manager George Hopkins. “He kept to himself mainly although on occasion, I could hit him with a joke and get a laugh or at least a chuckle out of him.”
For the most part, though, Pitts was serious and silent.
“I don’t need to talk about who I am,” he said. “I tried to express who I was and what I was about by my play. It’s not about conforming to what somebody else wants you to be, but just about you being who you are.”
What Pitts is and was, is one of the best to ever step on a football field in this country.