CFL's Old Man finds Cup glory one last time

The Old Man is gone today, and while no one this side of the border will pay any attention to this fact, let it be assured the entire nation of Canada is mourning.

Chris Duprey Dupe's Scoop

Sunday's Grey Cup was the final time Lui Passaglia had the privilege of donning a British Columbia Lions uniform and playing in the Canadian Football League. Passaglia is 46 years old, a 25-year veteran of the CFL, and no one can blame him for hanging up his shoe.

His kicking shoe, that is. That's how Passaglia has managed to stay in the league a quarter-century. You want a receiver covered or a block thrown, don't talk to Passaglia. If you want someone to get you points on third down, perhaps by kicking a 16-yard field goal, then Lui's your man.

Passaglia is the classic cult hero. He was recruited to Simon Fraser University in B.C. as a quarterback, but switched to kicker. After graduation, Passaglia landed the kicking job with the hometown Lions. Twenty-five seasons later, he was still around - never having changed teams, never abandoning his loyalty to search for greener pastures.

He's the Canadian equivalent of Kirk Gibson, who starred at Waterford Kettering High School and Michigan State before becoming the Tigers hero of 1984. Except Gibson didn't play 25 years.

Fans love Passaglia's Ralph S. Mouse look. They respect how active he stayed in his community. They admire how this average guy, seemingly no more skilled than anyone else in the league, has managed to hang around the CFL so long.

Some believed Passaglia shouldn't have returned for this, his silver anniversary. His punting statistics were starting to decline, and yet he still maintained a firm grip on his job, out of loyalty and hope. Retiring wouldn't have done anything to diminish his legacy as a CFL legend.

Still, Passaglia burned for one more title. He'd already won two with the Lions, in 1985 and '94. He thought he could steal one before time cut him off.

He almost wasn't given the chance. Despite Passaglia doing his part, leading the league in field-goal percentage (40-for-44, 91 percent), the Lions were failing, in danger of missing the postseason.

But a late-season four-game winning streak, buoyed by a fake-field-goal touchdown run by Passaglia himself in the final game, pushed B.C. into the playoffs with an 8-10 record.

That was all the opportunity B.C. needed. The Lions won both playoff games on the road, never trailing in either game, to get Passaglia his one shining moment - a return to the Grey Cup.

Sunday, the Passaglia worshippers were out again. One hoisted a full-body cardboard cutout of Passaglia in uniform, helmetless. Others settled for the more mainstream poster.

All this for the 46-year old kicker whose most eloquent description of his career was "it's been fun."

After three misses early in the Cup game, it finally did get fun again for Passaglia. He converted a field goal to give the Lions a 28-20 lead in the fourth quarter. That proved to be the margin of victory in B.C.'s 28-26 win.

Leaving McMahon Stadium in Calgary to the cheers of his supporters, Passaglia made it through the champagne showers for his final interviews. He told CBC that retirement wouldn't hit him "until I take this jersey off."

By now, Passaglia has done that. For the first time in what seems like forever, B.C. will be searching the wire for a kicker this week. The Old Man has finally decided to rest.

Could a run for Prime Minister be next?

- Chris Duprey can be reached at cduprey@umich.edu.