The final chapter of Danny McManus’ Hall-of-Fame career was written in Calgary.

Though teammates routinely kidded him about his physique and lack of foot speed — his listed height of six feet was likely wishful thinking and his 17-year total of rushing yardage was 426, a total that Damon Allen surpassed in 15 different seasons — the man known as Danny Mac was still flinging the football at age 41 when he played for the Stampeders in 2006.

As starter Henry Burris’ backup, McManus played sparingly during his final season but he showed he could still get the job done as he completed 57.1 per cent of his passes, the third-best success rate of his career. One of the primary reasons the Stamps acquired the veteran quarterback from the Edmonton Eskimos that season was to help mentor Burris.

With 53,255 yards, McManus was the Canadian Football League’s second-leading passer of all-time when he retired — he has since dropped to third spot after being overtaken by Anthony Calvillo — and he collected three Grey Cup rings.

The championships came with three different clubs — with Winnipeg during his rookie season in 1990, with BC in 1994 and with Hamilton in 1999.

McManus backed up Tom Burgess as a rookie but he managed to get into the championship game and even contributed a 56-yard touchdown pass that closed out the scoring in the Blue Bombers’ 50-11 rout of the Edmonton Eskimos.

With the Lions four years later, McManus was again the backup — this time to Kent Austin — but he was pressed into duty during the playoffs and made important contributions. First, he led the visiting Lions to a comeback victory over the Stamps in the West final. Then, in the Grey Cup, he replaced the injured Austin and helped BC defeat the Baltimore Stallions for the championship.

For his third championship, McManus was indisputably the No. 1 man. He threw for 28 touchdowns and a Tiger-Cats franchise record 5,334 yards during the regular season and was voted the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player. He added the Grey Cup MVP trophy to his collection by throwing for 347 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Tabbies’ victory over the Stamps.

Coincidentally, McManus was on the losing end of two Grey Cup games against Calgary — in 1992 when the Stamps beat the Blue Bombers and in 1998 when Calgary knocked off Hamilton. McManus also went to the 1996 Grey Cup game as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos.

McManus put up astounding numbers throughout his career and, as a result of a spectacular eight-year stint in Steeltown, still holds most of the significant Tiger-Cats passing records.

From 1995 to 2002, a period that saw him star for the Lions, Eskimos and Ticats, McManus registered a CFL-record eight consecutive seasons of at least 4,000 yards. Twice during his career, he surpassed the magical 5,000-yard milestone.

Whatever McManus lacked in natural physical gifts, he made up for in fearlessness and gumption. His play always straddled the line between courage and recklessness — he had more interceptions in his career than touchdowns passes — but the picks never made him gun-shy and he kept trying to make big plays.

“My coach at Florida State said when you win, the head coach and quarterback get all the praise, and when you lose, the head coach and quarterback get all the blame,” McManus noted in the latter stages of his career. “And I don’t mind that. I would rather take the blame, have the media come after me, than go after my players. If something went wrong, I’ll take the majority of the blame. But if we win, I push everything to the players.”

It’s an attitude that earned the respect and loyalty of his teammates.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks to play the game and has three Grey Cups to prove it,” said Hall-of-Fame receiver Darren Flutie, who played with McManus for a total of 10 seasons with three different clubs. “He believed in his receivers. He always got nailed for the interceptions, but that came from his belief in his receivers. He would just throw the ball up for them.”