Joey Walters is still receiving passes — as in boarding passes.
The legendary Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback has flown from Orlando to Toronto to Regina for the purpose of attending Saturday’s game against the Calgary Stampeders (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
The airline agenda for Walters, his wife Patricia and their fine son Leo included Air Canada flight 1923.
“When I saw that number 23, I immediately thought of the great Ron Lancaster,” Walters said leading up to the excursion.
It was Lancaster who threw the first pass to Walters when he debuted as the Roughriders’ No. 17 on Aug. 28, 1977.
Early in that game, also against Calgary, Lancaster looked downfield for Walters and a 39-yard gain resulted from a dazzling fingertip grab.
On Oct. 29 of the following year, on Walters’ 24th birthday, he caught the 333rd (and final) touchdown pass of Lancaster’s career.
Lancaster next celebrated a birthday (his 41st) on Oct. 14, 1979, when he coached the Roughriders to a 26-25 upset victory over the visitors from Edmonton. Walters led the offence with nine receptions for a career-high 212 yards, 52 of which resulted from a touchdown bomb thrown by Danny Sanders.
Also worth noting: Lancaster had the wisdom to move Walters from wide receiver to slotback late in the 1980 season.
While thriving at a new position, Walters established Roughriders standards that remain unsurpassed.
In 1981, he caught 91 passes for a team-record 1,715 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.
He followed up in 1982 with 102 catches (then a single-season CFL mark) for 1,692 yards.
Those totals were amassed when each team played 16 regular-season games. The schedule was expanded to 18 games per club in 1986.
Even with the benefit of two more games per season, a Roughriders receiver has yet to reach 1,600 yards, let alone 1,700, or equal the 11 100-yard games that Walters registered in 1981.
As a human being, he is also unmatched.
If you have had the honour of meeting him, the interaction was assuredly as pleasant as it was memorable.
If you have yet to spend any time around him, you can easily change all that on Saturday.
Walters and another member of Roughriders receiving royalty, Ray Elgaard, will be signing autographs during the Coors Light Party in the Park pre-game festivities. They will be available to fans in Confederation Park for one hour, beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Between them, Walters and Elgaard entertained fans for 20 seasons in succession.
Elgaard was selected by Saskatchewan in the second round (12th overall) of the 1983 CFL Draft. Sixteen days later, Walters signed with the United States Football League’s Washington Federals.
Walters starred in the USFL for all three seasons of its existence, catching 219 passes for 3,153 yards and 24 TDs on behalf of the Federals (1983 and 1984) and Orlando Renegades (1985).
After settling in Orlando, he worked for Burger King before beginning a long association with Florida Citrus Sports.
Now, early in retirement, Walters has seized a long-awaited opportunity to bring his family to Regina for the first time.
He had previously visited in 1985 (when he was named to the Roughriders’ 75th-anniversary team), 1990 (SaskTel Plaza of Honour induction) and 2015 (when he caught a home game at historic Mosaic Stadium in the company of long-time friends, including former Roughriders and Clemson Tigers teammate Lester Brown).
When Walters and Brown shared a residence in south Regina in the early 1980s, neighbourhood kids would routinely knock on the front door and ask for autographs.
On top of that, there were times when Walters would accompany the youngsters to a nearby park and toss around the football.
Forty-some years later, Joey Walters is every bit as obliging and kind.
Don’t just take my word for it. Visit Confederation Park on Saturday and see for yourself.
REMEMBERING TOM MacCALLUM
Tom MacCallum, who played for the Roughriders in 1993 and 1994, passed away on Tuesday in Regina. He was 52.
MacCallum was the Roughriders’ sixth-round draft choice (42nd overall) in 1992.
After attending that year’s training camp with the Roughriders, he returned to the Prairie Football Conference for his fifth and final season with the Regina Rams. He was a PFC All-Star tackle in 1990 and 1991.
Before joining the Rams, the Regina-born MacCallum played six-man high school football at Central High School in Loreburn.
He played for Team North in the 1988 Senior Bowl — a showcase for Saskatchewan’s top graduating high school football players — at Taylor Field.
“Tom moved to Regina from Loreburn when he was 17 years old to play for the Rams and moved into our home with our family for the next four years,” said former Rams receiver Josh Shaw, MacCallum’s second cousin.
“He was a guiding force and mentor to myself and my brothers growing up. Tom had a relentless competitive spirit and a tremendous sense of humour. He truly was the life of the party in every sense.
“I was fortunate to play my rookie season on the Rams with Tom, during his final season of eligibility, and was witness to what a tremendous player and teammate he was on a daily basis.
“Learning from him helped shape me into the person I am today, and I will cherish those memories.”
From the Rams, MacCallum ascended to the Roughriders. He made his CFL regular-season debut on July 9, 1993 against the host B.C. Lions.
He dressed for all 19 regular-season and playoff games in 1993 and appeared in three more contests the following year before signing with Calgary as a free agent on March 27, 1995.
Post-CFL, MacCallum — who received an education degree from the University of Regina in 1994 — remained actively involved in football as a coach. He coached six-man football in Kelliher for six seasons and was later the U of R Rams’ offensive line coach, while also working full-time with students as a teacher and school administrator.
MacCallum is survived by his wife, Marnie, and four children — Callie, Tayler, Rylee and Tatum.
MILESTONE MAN
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris is just 231 passing yards shy of reaching the 30,000 career milestone.
“That means I’m getting old,” Harris, 37, said with a chuckle when asked about the significance of such a nice, round number.
“I don’t put any stock in that stuff. That’s stuff for after I’m done playing. Or, maybe after it happens, I can look back and think, ‘Never in a million years would I have thought that I could do that.’
“It’s just all praise, glory and honour to Jesus from me. I’ve been able to live a dream that every child that loves football has growing up. I get to wake up and play football and call it my job. It gives me the chills saying that.
“I’m just really thankful that I’ve gotten to do this for this long and I’ll never take one single day for granted. I’m always going to work my tail off every single day.
“My goal has never been to throw for X amount of yards. It has always been to lift up my teammates and that’s really where my mindset is — to make sure that I lead these guys as best I can and just let all the chips fall where they may.”
CFL statistician extraordinaire Steve Daniel also notes that Harris has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games, dating back to time spent with the Montreal Alouettes last season.
Steve also passed along this nugget: The first CFL completion for Harris was a three-yarder to Toronto Argonauts teammate Andre Durie on Oct. 8, 2012. The Harris-Durie connection took place on the final play of the game — a 36-10 Roughriders victory at Rogers Centre.
From my (cough!) dusty files: Harris is the first Roughrider to throw for at least one score in each of his first four starts in a given season since Kevin Glenn in 2015.
A Roughrider has not exceeded that total since the championship season of 2013, when Darian Durant produced at least one aerial major in each of his first six starts.
Durant, in 2013, is also the last Roughrider to throw a TD pass in each of the team’s first four games. (He sat out Week 5 of the 2013 season due to injury.)
In 2010, Durant also hit the TD-pass column in Games 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The last Roughriders quarterback to extend such a streak beyond four to begin a season was Kerry Joseph (Games 1 to 6, 2006).
CUP CHATTER
Saskatchewan is one victory away from winning its fourth consecutive championship at the Football Canada Cup — a national under-18 event.
The Saskatchewan side is to oppose Quebec in Saturday’s gold-medal game, to be played in Edmonton. Saskatchewan advanced to the final by defeating Ontario 15-12 on Wednesday.
Carter Casey snapped a 12-12 tie in the final seconds by kicking his second 36-yard field goal of the game. Casey also converted his touchdown pass to Tyrell Mohr, who made six receptions for 69 yards.
Jacob Goldstone led Saskatchewan’s defence with seven tackles and two sacks.
In Sunday’s opener, Saskatchewan blanked New Brunswick 39-0. Casey threw touchdown passes to Mohr and Javin Boynton in addition to rushing for one score and adding five converts — two of which punctuated TD runs by Owen Mazur.
Boynton rushed for a game-high 91 yards on eight carries. Brady Blackburn (seven catches for 136 yards) was Saskatchewan’s leading receiver. Goldstone registered a sack and a tackle for a loss.
ROLL CREDITS …
Nice people who deserve a plug: Larry Dean, Kendall Watson, Micah Teitz, Campbell Fair, Ray Elgaard, Joey Walters, Carter Casey, Carm Carteri, Larry Mueller, Lana Mueller, Marc Mueller, Bev Lancaster, Larry Bird, Jael Wells, Angela Wells, Joel Wells, Mike Thomas, John Patrick, Lori Patrick, Alan Millar, Ken Schneider, Brad Herauf, Al Dumba, Jeremiah Masoli, Christine Marie, Jay Dufour, Kimberly Tonnellier, Mark Stephen, Dan Plaster, Steve Daniel and everyone involved with a newly launched, ingeniously named Western Canadian Baseball League franchise — the Saskatoon Berries! May their time in the WCBL prove to be fruitful.
