Danny McManus Danny McManus ( born June 17 , 1965 ) , is a retired professional American football and Canadian football quarterback who passed for over 50 , 000 yards in seventeen seasons in the Canadian Football League . He played every season in the league from 1990 to 2006 , as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers , BC Lions , Edmonton Eskimos , Hamilton Tiger - Cats , and finally with the Calgary Stampeders . As of 2007 , his all - time CFL passing yardage is third most next to Damon Allen and Anthony Calvillo , and he works as a colour analyst for TSN ' s CFL broadcasts , having previously appeared as a guest analyst on the CFL on CBC late in his playing career . McManus is currently the Head U . S . Scout of the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . College career . McManus spent four seasons at Florida State University , from 1984 to 1987 , coached by the legendary Bobby Bowden ( McManus also went to Florida State in 1983 , but was redshirted ) . McManus was named the starter as quarterback in 1985 and led the Seminoles to defeat Nebraska . After four victories , he suffered a pair of concussions and he had spent the rest of 1985 on the bench . But in 1986 , McManus was named the Seminole ' s offensive most valuable player , after a season that saw him come out of the backup position to end the year as the starter , throwing for 872 yards and seven touchdowns . In 1987 , McManus started every game for Florida State , leading them to an 11 - 1 record and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl , which they won 31 - 28 over the University of Nebraska . Due to his leadership , FSU had one of their greatest campaigns . McManus , who threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in the bowl game , was named the most valuable player , and wound up with 1 , 984 yards and fourteen touchdowns on the year . After this season , McManus was selected in the 1988 NFL Draft , but late : in the eleventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs . Professional career . National Football League . McManus made the Chiefs out of training camp , and spent his first , and only , National Football League season on the bench as the third quarterback . During his brief time with the Chiefs , the team was woeful , going 4 - 11 - 1 . McManus saw no action , and was released during 1989 ' s training camp . McManus spent all of 1989 trying to catch on with another NFL team , but was unsuccessful . Winnipeg Blue Bombers . Unable to find a place to play in 1989 , McManus signed with the Canadian Football League ' s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in time for the 1990 season . Unlike the terrible Chiefs team that he had just left , the Blue Bombers of the era were in the middle of a mini - dynasty , where they won two Grey Cup s in three years . The 1990 season gave the Blue Bombers perhaps their best ending ever , as they obliterated the Edmonton Eskimos 50 - 11 in the 78th Grey Cup in Vancouver . McManus , the Blue Bombers ' backup all year , threw for a total of 946 yards and seven touchdowns during the season , and also tossed a touchdown in the Grey Cup in a rare appearance for the backup in the championship game . Through 1991 and 1992 , McManus remained with the Blue Bombers as the backup quarterback to Matt Dunigan . McManus made his second Grey Cup appearance in 1992 , again coming in for a relief stint . This time , however , the circumstances were not so good , as Dunigan had been ineffective and the Blue Bombers went on to lose the 80th Grey Cup 24 - 10 to Calgary at SkyDome in Toronto , Ontario . BC Lions . After the Grey Cup , McManus left Winnipeg as a free agent and ended up signing with the BC Lions , and started three games in 1993 when starting quarterback Danny Barrett was injured . For 1994 , McManus was again the backup , this time to Kent Austin . However , fate would give McManus a larger role in this season as , in the West Final he replaced Austin and led the Lions to a trip to a comeback victory over the Calgary Stampeders in a driving snowstorm culminating in a last second TD pass that sent the Lions to the Grey Cup Game at home in Vancouver . In the 82nd Grey Cup , Austin was knocked out of the game and McManus had to take over at halftime , and ended up leading the Lions on a dramatic drive downfield setting up Lui Passaglia to kick a game - winning field goal , giving BC a 26 - 23 victory over the Baltimore Stallions . It was McManus ' s second Grey Cup and third appearance in five years in the Canadian Football League . In 1995 , McManus was given the reins as the Lions ' full - time starter . McManus threw for 4 , 655 yards ( second in the league behind his old mentor Dunigan ) and 19 touchdowns . But the Lions ' efforts to defend their Grey Cup were quickly derailed come playoff time , as the Lions were defeated by the Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Division Semi - Final despite McManus throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns . Edmonton Eskimos . Any animosity McManus must have felt to the Eskimos must have quickly cooled , however , as he signed with Edmonton during the off - season as a free agent following his release by British Columbia . Once again , McManus was second in the league in passing yardage for 1996 , this time behind Doug Flutie , with 4 , 425 yards , 22 touchdowns , and 19 interceptions . McManus led the Eskimos to second in the Western Division and the Grey Cup game , including a 68 - 7 slaughtering of McManus ' s old Blue Bombers in the Western Semi - Final . In the driving snow at Ivor Wynne Stadium , the Toronto Argonauts defeated Edmonton in the 84th Grey Cup 43 - 37 . McManus had an excellent game despite the conditions with 413 yards and three touchdowns , but was outplayed by Toronto ' s Flutie , who was named the most outstanding player . McManus ' s only interception of the game came when Doug Flutie ' s brother Darren fell trying to catch a well - thrown ball , and the ball ricocheted off of Flutie and into the waiting arms of a Toronto defensive back , who returned it for a touchdown . 1997 was a slight regression for McManus , but not for the Eskimos as they won their division for the first time since 1991 . McManus fell to fourth in passing yardage but was still the Edmonton nominee for Most Outstanding Player . Edmonton was hosting the 85th Grey Cup that year and hopes were high that the Eskimos would play at it , but Edmonton lost a heart - breaking Western final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31 - 30 . McManus threw for an excellent 407 yards in the game in a losing effort . Hamilton Tiger - Cats . McManus left the Eskimos as a free agent for 1998 , as the Hamilton Tiger - Cats signed both the veteran quarterback and his all - time favourite receiver , Darren Flutie . McManus arrived on a talent - laden team and did not disappoint , finishing second in passing yardage for the second time in his career and becoming only the second Hamilton quarterback to pass for over 4 , 000 yards in a season . The Tiger - Cats warred with the fast - rising Montreal Alouettes and their veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo all season , including a rare tie in a regular - season meeting between the two teams . Hamilton and Montreal finished even at 12 - 5 - 1 , but Hamilton took first place on their superior head - to - head record . When the two teams inevitably clashed in the East final , Hamilton took a thriller 22 - 20 . However , all - star quarterback Jeff Garcia and his Calgary Stampeders beat Hamilton 26 - 24 in the 86th Grey Cup . Despite the disappointment of 1998 , McManus rebounded in superb fashion for 1999 . Throwing for 5 , 334 yards and 28 touchdowns , McManus won his first , and only , Most Outstanding Player award . The icing on the cake came on the 87th Grey Cup , where McManus thwarted the Stampeders ' drive for a repeat in a rematch of the previous year ' s championship game . Garcia was gone to the NFL but his replacement Dave Dickenson had proven very dangerous ; however , the Tiger - Cats took their first Grey Cup since 1986 with a 32 - 21 victory . It was McManus ' s third Grey Cup and his sixth appearance in the big game . In 2000 , McManus set the CFL record with six straight seasons throwing for at least 4 , 000 yards . But , after their Grey Cup victory , the Tiger - Cats were beginning to enter a long spiral to the East Division basement . The team finished a disappointing 9 - 9 and lost the East Semi - Final to Winnipeg . 2001 was a slight resurgence as the Tiger - Cats finished 11 - 7 , but another loss to Winnipeg in the East Final sent the Tiger - Cats home early . By 2002 , the Tiger - Cats were running on fumes and went down to 7 - 11 , ahead of only the expansion Ottawa Renegades . For the first time in his CFL career , Danny McManus missed the playoffs . McManus turned 38 during the 2003 CFL season , and the retirement talk was coming in hard . It would be hard for it not to , however , as the Tiger - Cats were one of the worst teams in Canadian football history that year . Despite starting fifteen games , McManus threw for only 2 , 869 yards , snapping his record streak of consecutive 4 , 000 yard seasons at eight . McManus might have been hurt by the loss of preferred target Darren Flutie to retirement . The Tiger - Cats finished 1 - 17 , with the only bright spot being an overtime victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders . 2004 was significantly stronger for McManus , as was his team . For the second time in his career , McManus threw for over 5 , 000 yards despite turning 39 early in the season . The Tiger - Cats shocked the Canadian football world by finishing 9 - 8 - 1 , an accomplishment amazing enough for rookie head coach Greg Marshall to be named coach of the year and McManus to receive the Rogers - AT & T Fan Choice Award , sharing it with Anthony Calvillo . In Hamilton ' s sole playoff game , they lost the East Semi - Final to rivals Toronto 24 - 6 . The Tiger - Cats were unable to build on their 2004 success , and in the 2005 season finished in the league ' s basement at 5 - 13 , with a defense that allowed 583 points . McManus threw for 2 , 544 yards and eleven touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 67 . 1 , and spent time on the bench in favour of Khari Jones , Marcus Brady , and the unknown Kevin Eakin who all took snaps . Final season and retirement . After the 93rd Grey Cup , McManus was traded to the newly - crowned league champion Edmonton Eskimos in a package that included as the centrepiece Edmonton quarterback Jason Maas . This was the first time McManus had ever been traded in his career and his second go - round with Edmonton . On March 31 , 2006 , McManus was traded for the second time in his career , this time to the Calgary Stampeders . Edmonton received a third round draft pick in the 2006 CFL Draft in return . For the 2006 season McManus served as backup and mentor to Stampeders ' starting quarterback Henry Burris . He announced his retirement from playing football on April 2 , 2007 . He was quickly snapped up by TSN as an analyst for CFL game broadcasts for the 2007 season . He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2011 . Coaching career . McManus began working as a guest coach with the Tiger - Cats during 2008 CFL season training camp and signed on as a coaching consultant in July to assist offensive co - ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille and work with the quarterbacks . Danny is now the Head U . S . scout for the Ti - Cats . Legacy . In 2012 in honour of the 100th Grey Cup , Canada Post used his image on a series of commemorative postage stamps . The image was also used on presentation posters and other materials to promote the Grey Cup game and other celebrations associated with the centennial . References .