Shire: CFL records that will never be broken, and some that could

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After scoring his 894th career goal and retiring from the National Hockey League in 1999, many thought Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record would stand forever.

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Enter Alexander Ovechkin, who, after being drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2004, scored the 895th goal of his NHL career earlier this month to become the league’s new all-time leader.

While we’ve all heard “records are meant to be broken,” there are some records that will never be broken again, including Gretzky’s all-time assists record (1,963).

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What about in the Canadian Football League? As the 2025 season approaches, let’s have a look at some records that will never be broken, and a few that could.

Most games, career

B.C. Lions kicker Lui Passaglia played 408 career games and that’s a record no one will ever surpass. The three-time Grey Cup champion played 25 regular seasons from 1976 to 2000 and retired at the age of 46.

While kicker Bob Cameron (394 games) and quarterback Damon Allen (370 games) got close to 400, we probably won’t see anyone reach those numbers ever again.

The longest serving Saskatchewan Roughrider, long snapper Jorgen Hus, has played 148 games in his career with the Green and White since 2015. The 35-year-old would need to play 15 more seasons to reach Passaglia.

Most receiving touchdowns, career

Will anyone ever top Milt Stegall’s record of 144 receiving touchdowns?

The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers star receiver also holds the record for total touchdowns (147) in his career, which spanned 14 seasons. On top of that, he still holds the record for most touchdowns in a season with 23.

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Eugene Lewis had 10 receiving touchdowns to lead the league last year. Now imagine that production spread out over 14-plus seasons. That’s what he, or any other star receiver, would have to do.

Most rushing touchdowns, career

Like Stegall’s receiving record, George Reed’s record of 134 rushing touchdowns may never be broken.

While Mike Pringle got close with 125 rushing touchdowns, a running back’s longevity in the league just isn’t what it used to be and it’s safe to say Reed’s record could stand forever, unless Saskatchewan’s new short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens, 28, puts up 10 rushing touchdowns for the next 11 years.

Most rushing yards, one game

Last year, Ryquell Armstead had a 207-yard game in his debut with Saskatchewan, but he was still 80 yards short of the all-time single-game mark set by Ron Stewart in 1960.

While Reed holds the second-best mark with a 268-yard game in 1965, Fred Reid had a 260-yard game in 2009. It would take quite a performance for someone to even come close to that again.

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Most passing yards, career

While Ricky Ray and Henry Burris were outstanding quarterbacks in the CFL over the last 25 years, neither of them got to within 15,000 yards of Anthony Calvillo’s career mark of 79,816 yards.

Damon Allen, who previously held the mark with 72,381 yards before Calvillo passed him, is the only other player in CFL history to eclipse the 70,000-yard mark.

Roughriders 38-year-old quarterback Trevor Harris enters the 2025 season with 33,148 career passing yards, meaning he would need to put together seven more all-star seasons to even get close to Calvillo while B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, 26, would need to have 15 consecutive seasons of 5,000 passing yards to come close.

Most passing yards, one season

While there may never be anyone who puts together a career like Calvillo, how about a quarterback setting a single season mark?

Doug Flutie’s mark of 6,619 passing yards in 1991 ranks atop the all-time list. While Kent Austin had 6,225 yards in 1992, Calvillo is the only other quarterback to reach the 6,000-yard mark in the last 25 years.

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In 2017, Michael Reilly was close when he had 5,830 with Edmonton after throwing for 5,556 yards the year prior. Last year, Bo Levi Mitchell had 5,451 passing yards with Hamilton

There’s enough quarterback-receiver talent in the CFL these days and I would say the 6,000-yard milestone could be reached any season now.

Most passing touchdowns, one season

The talent is there for a quarterback to reach 6,000 passing yards in a single season, but how about the all-time passing touchdowns record? Not likely.

Doug Flutie holds the all-time mark of 48, which he set in 1994 before throwing for 47 in 1997. While Khari Jones threw for 46 in 2002, no quarterback has thrown for more than 40 since 2012 when Henry Burris had 43.

Last year, Bo Levi Mitchell led the CFL with 32. In 2022, Zach Collaros had 37. Those were remarkable seasons, and they were still several away from Flutie’s record.

tshire@postmedia.com

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