Allen Pitts

Allen Pitts (born June 28, 1964) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1990 to 2000. He attended Cal-State Fullerton and played his entire professional career as a receiver for the Calgary Stampeders. He retired as the CFL's all-time leading receiver in term of career yardage until he was passed by Milt Stegall in 2008.

College career Pitts played receiver for the Cal State Fullerton Titans. He completed his eligibility with the Titans in 1985. One of his teammates in college was future CFL quarterback, Damon Allen.

Professional career

NFL Pitts had drawn the attention of NFL scouts, and believed he would be selected in the 1986 draft. However, in one pre-draft workout, Pitts was running a pass route, and college teammate Mark Collins stepped on his foot, breaking his fibula. Word of Pitts’ injury spread through the NFL grapevine and he was bypassed on draft day.

He was given a free-agent tryout with the Los Angeles Rams in the summer of 1986, but was cut during training camp.

The power of the Stampeders' passing attack was proved in 1995 despite star quarterback Doug Flutie missing significant time with injury. The rise of quarterback Jeff Garcia helped Pitts and Dave Sapunjis combine for over 3,000 yards receiving. Pitts gained 100 catches for 1,492 yards and 11 touchdowns. Remarkably, these numbers were second on the team to Sapunjis' 111-1653-12. This marked the first time a CFL team had two receivers with 100 or more receptions in the same season. Calgary played Baltimore in the Grey Cup. Baltimore defeated Calgary 37-20 to become the first American-based team to win the Grey Cup.

In 1996, Pitts was Calgary's nominee for the CFL Most Outstanding Player award for the second time. He led the Stampeders in receptions (86) and yards (1,309), and tied for the league lead in touchdowns (11).

Pitts missed the first seven games of the 1997 season because of a broken hand. Pitts played his entire 11-year career with one team, and under a single head coach, Wally Buono. During Pitts' tenure in Calgary, the team had a winning record and made the playoffs every year.

Upon completion of his career, Pitts ranked in the top 3 all-time in the following career categories: 1 in receptions (966) 1 in 100 reception seasons (4) 1 in playoff receptions (78) 3 in Grey Cup receptions (25) 1 in receiving yards (14,891) 1 in 100 yard receiving games (64) 1 in 1,000 yard receiving seasons (9) 1 in playoff receiving yards (1,290) 1 in receiving touchdowns (117) - he was the first CFL player to reach 100 receiving touchdowns 1 in games with receiving touchdowns (95) 3 in yards from scrimmage (14,886) 2 in total touchdowns (117)

In 2004, Pitts was inducted into the Stampeders' Wall of Fame, and his jersey number 18 was retired by the team. He was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

CFL statistics Regular season Receiving Regular season Year Team Games No. Yards Avg Long TD 1990 CGY 18 65 1172 18.0 67 6 1991 CGY 18 118 1764 14.9 87 15 1992 CGY 18 103 1591 15.4 53 13 1993 CGY 7 45 776 17.2 37 4 1994 CGY 18 126 2036 16.2 54 21 1995 CGY 16 100 1492 14.9 63 11 1996 CGY 17 86 1309 15.2 41 11 1997 CGY 11 53 885 16.7 43 9 1998 CGY 18 97 1449 14.9 63 10 1999 CGY 17 96 1372 14.3 62 11 2000 CGY 18 77 1045 13.6 29 6 CFL totals 176 966 14,891 15.4 87 117

Playoffs

Grey Cup