EDMONTON, AB – It’s the Manny Show series finale.
Three-time CFL West Division all-star Emmanuel Arceneaux officially announced his retirement on Tuesday, putting an end to one of the more storied careers in recent CFL memory.
“I gave a lot to the game and the game was good to me,” Arceneaux said. “I created some memories and had one heck of a career. You know, at some point, you’ve got to take the cleats off and hang them up, and I just thought that the time was now.”
Arceneaux finishes his 14-year pro career ranked inside the top 20 all-time in receptions and top 30 all-time in receiving yards. He also concludes his playing career having collected a reception in his last 146 games in a row, the fourth longest streak in CFL history.
Arceneaux was able to hit incredible benchmarks and leave a lasting legacy in a career that just as easily could not have happened. A graduate of Alcorn State University, the recruitment opportunities were few and far between for Arceneaux once his college career wrapped up.
It was a letter from an unknown league that would change his fate.
BECOMING A PRO
“After I had graduated, my mom handed me an envelope and it was a contract to come play with the B.C. Lions, and it says in Canada,” Arceneaux said. “I’m in Mississippi at Alcorn State. I’m having to get a passport expedited. I didn’t know anything about that.”
A trip to Abbotsford, B.C. for Lions training camp was a unique experience for the future CFLer. Roughly an hour outside of Vancouver, the camp being held at Rotary Stadium was a crash course in Canadian Football. Arceneaux, who says he missed the Lions pro tryouts due to his participation in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Track Championships, knew the deck was stacked against him.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but all I knew was this: The BC Lions don’t want me there and they were ready to send me home, because they gave me number 74.” Arceneaux said. “I’m like, this number means this guy never makes the team.”
Arceneaux was joining a Lions receiver room that had strong veterans in Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson, plus a ton of other stronger recruited options in Ryan Grice-Mullens, Terrence Scott, and Cory Rodgers. With so many bodies in camp and relegated to mostly 1-on-1 reps, Arceneaux knew he needed to make the most out of any opportunity.
“(During 1-on-1s) I caught a little flat route. I was out of bounds and outran safety Chad Crawford’s angle,” Arceneaux said. “I remember Roy Shivers and Wally Buono after that saying, ‘hey, man, let’s give this kid a chance,’ and that’s when I finally started getting reps.”
“(At the end of training camp) I remember seeing Kato (long time B.C. Lions equipment manager) and he was like, ‘hey, man, you want number 18? That 74 is ugly.’ I’m like, ‘nah, that’s Cory Rodgers number.’”
Rogers was a former fourth-round NFL draft pick and a CFL veteran who had taken Arceneaux under his wing as he adjusted to life in the Canadian Football League. With Rodgers being one of the players cut to give Arceneaux his pro-opportunity, he just didn’t feel right taking Rodgers number. Instead, he knocked the 7 off that training camp jersey and started wearing 84 – the number he’d rock for his entire CFL career.
LEAVING A LEGACY
Arceneaux would go on to have a stellar Canadian Football League career, finishing with 9,277 receiving yards on 645 receptions, and 58 touchdowns. His 2016 season was a standout campaign with his 1,566 receiving yards good enough for third in the league behind a pair of EE receivers in Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker. His 13 touchdowns that season were three more than any other wideout, earning himself a CFL All-Star nod.
Arceneaux’s production has landed him among the CFL’s greats. He finishes his career with more catches than legends like Brian Kelly, Jermaine Copeland, Earl Winfield, Jock Climie, and Jim Sandusky.
“To be top 20 (all-time), it means a lot. I don’t think I’ve actually dwelled on it in the moment because I was in the game playing, but now looking back at it, the things that I’ve achieved, it was a very big deal,” Arceneaux said. “I’m a humble guy, so I just look at it like, yeah I played football, made some plays, but when you look at it, that’s some hall of fame type stuff. Having to do it at a consistent level, I’m very grateful for it.”
ARCENEAUX IN GREEN AND GOLD
Arceneaux was asked to recap the top moments in his football career, and in his top three was his time spent in Edmonton.
For a time, the veterans CFL career looked to have ended with the least productive season of his career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while recovering from an ACL injury suffered in his final season in B.C… The then 33-year-old receiver struggled to find an offer coming out of the Pandemic cancelled 2020 season and ended up suiting up for the Frisco Fighters of the Indoor Football League.
Far from a story book ending for one of the most productive CFLers of the last decade. However, Arceneaux gained an appreciation for the type of character and determination it takes to make it in the Indoor Football League.
His performance caught the eyes of head coach and general manager Chris Jones, who was starting his rebuilding project of the Edmonton Elks with a very young, and inexperienced squad. Jones was familiar with Arceneaux’s work in the league and took a chance on the veteran to provide a stabilizing presence inside the locker room.
As much as his value was in his experience, the 35-year-old produced. Arceneaux finished fourth on the Elks in receiving yards in 2022 with 513 and third in receptions with 39. In all, ‘The Manny Show’ would suit up for 24 games with the Green and Gold, recording a catch in every single contest.
“I think my last (favourite) moment was playing in Edmonton, because being counted out, no one giving me an opportunity. That organization and Chris Jones took a chance on me,” Arceneaux said. “I’m very grateful and thankful for that because they allowed me to continue to play the game of football at a professional level and also add to my legacy. They believed in me, gave me the opportunity.”
As far as how Arceneaux hopes to be remembered in the annals of CFL history now that his playing career is done, he wishes that the work ethic that allowed him to play the game he loved for 14 years shines through.
“Hopefully the fans, the people in the league, and guys across the locker room acknowledge my game and know that I’m somebody that played it with integrity and never took a play off.”