The Legend Returns

Confirmed: Milt Stegall is still – to quote the Winnipeg Blue Bombers/Canadian Football League legend himself – ‘thin in the waist and cute in the face’.

Now 54 and still preaching his six guarantees in life — death, taxes, trouble, Milt being on time, Milt being pretty and Milt being in great shape – Stegall stepped onto the field at Princess Auto Stadium for the first day of Blue Bombers rookie camp as a full participant desperately wanting to strike an item off his personal bucket list.

And after the two-hour session here’s a quick synopsis: he still looks like he can play, still runs with that deceiving gait which never saw him be caught from behind, can still get open and can still deliver a zinger on cue.

Case in point: during Wednesday’s session Blue Bombers President & CEO Wade Miller – a former teammate and the man who helped make Wednesday’s bucket list item come to life – received a hearty round of applause from fans as he walked along the sideline.

Stegall, fielding field goal attempts in the end zone, shouted: ‘Don’t clap for him! He’s done nothing to help this organization!’

In short, Wednesday’s Day 1 of rookie camp was like opening a Stegall time capsule buried some time in 2009 and having the man pop out looking as fresh as a spring morning.

“That was fun. That was everything I thought it would be,” Stegall told a media throng afterward. “I got to run around a little bit. I got one ball thrown to me – I didn’t drop it; it was a bad throw – but I’m just so fortunate I was able to experience that and go through that one more time. I told somebody, the question is, ‘Where will I be next year? Who’s training camp will I be at next year?’

“I thank Wade Miller and Kyle (Walters) and Mike O’Shea and the coaching staff for allowing me to experience that because it was everything I thought it was going to be.”

Stegall’s one day fantasy camp included him being among the leaders of his position group in the fitness test and picking his spots as to when to jump in for reps rather than steal away opportunities from rookies – something he was very cognizant of going into Day 1.

The one pass thrown in his direction – jokingly referenced above as a ‘bad throw’ — during offence vs. defence team period was broken up by rookie Demetries Ford. Asked if he thought he could take this bucket list item one step forward and suit up for a game, Stegall began shaking his head before the question was even finished.

“I’m honest with myself,” he said. “Yes, I have a big ego. Yes, I think I’m in tip-top shape, but I couldn’t play in a game. I’m not that much of an egomaniac that I think I could go back and play in a game. That could never happen.

“… I can run forever. I can still do that. But the stopping and going stuff, that’s what made me retire at the end of my career. It’s still difficult… 54-year-old… new field… stopping and going. But I got to experience this.”

Every Stegall moment was cheered by fans in attendance, from a catch in a receiving drill, to him simply running the ladder in a receiver skill period. Little wonder, given the CFL’s all-time touchdown leader authored so many memorable moments for this franchise’s fan base and other across the league. He interacted often with the crowd, waving during a cheer from the stands or giving the thumbs up to any words of encouragement.

“This is Winnipeg, man. I love it so much,” he said. “I always say this is not my second home, this is my other home. They treat me so well when I come back and so I just enjoy it and try to eat it up as much as I can because once I cross that border and go back to Atlanta no one is screaming for Milt Stegall, #85, so I’ve got to eat it up as much as I can.”

As the session unfolded, he began fielding questions from players who were told of his legend, including those asking about Winnipeg, the CFL, and advice on how to crack the roster.

All this on very little sleep, as he said he woke up at 3 a.m. feeling very nervous.

“And I’ve never been this nervous before training camp in my life,” he said. “I don’t know why… it’s not like I’m trying to make the team and if I get hurt, so what? But I guess it’s been 16 years since the last time I’ve been to training camp, and I didn’t know what to expect. I knew the majority of these guys didn’t know who I am and they’re going to challenge me and all that, but once I got out here and started moving around a little bit, I got the butterflies out it was a great time. It was an awesome time.

“They were calling me the ‘OG’, which means the ‘Original Gangster’ I guess. They were just amazed and were, ‘Why do these fans keep screaming for you?’ And then somebody told them who I was. They were just excited for me. Like I said, it was just such an awesome time.”