He’s one of the best players in Toronto Argonaut history, but one of Paul Masotti’s favourite memories as an Argo had nothing to do with a catch, a win, or one of his three Grey Cup rings. In fact, it didn’t even happen at a stadium.
“Flying home with John Candy,” the receiver told Argonauts.ca. “We played in Saskatchewan, and I guess he asked Coach (Adam) Rita to pick three or four guys who had a really good game and I had a really good game that day. He said, ‘You’re going to fly home on John Candy’s jet.”
So, the receiver and a couple of teammates avoided the team redeye flight and had a private three-hour audience with the comedic legend, then a part-owner of the Argos.
“It was great. It was a private jet, so I literally sat in a La-Z-Boy with a tiny little card table between me and John Candy,” recalled Masotti with a smile. “We were facing each other the whole flight. He was reading the statistics from the game, and he was doing his Johnny LaRue impersonation and drinking his rum and cokes. We had the best pierogies on the flight.”
In perfect Candy fashion, the end of the experience had a “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles” feel to it.
“When we got out of the plane we didn’t know where we were, we were just on open tarmac,” recalled Masotti. “We were at a private area at the airport and that’s where the dream ended. John left in a limo, and I had no idea where I had parked.”
An unconventional story like that is a perfect one for Masotti to highlight, as his route to becoming an All-Time Argo wasn’t as pristine as the ones he ran.
Masotti grew up in Hamilton, starring at Saltfleet High School before heading to Wolfville, Nova Scotia to play at Acadia for the legendary Sonny Wolfe. He ended up being named an AUS all-star twice and an All-Canadian once, no small feat as the Axemen used a heavy running attack led by Brian Walling, who established conference rushing records and was twice named conference MVP.
The receiver was selected by the Argos with the 15th pick in the 1988 draft, the team’s first selection that year. But before he reported to camp, he signed with Washington in the NFL, something U SPORTS players rarely did in that era.
“Leo Cahill was not a happy man,” said Masotti of the Argo general manager. “I was in the office with my agent (Dean Albrecht), Ralph Sazio, who was the president at the time, and Leo Cahill. Leo had the phone in his hand and was saying ‘I’m going to phone Joe Theismann right now! Joe is going to tell you how hard it is to make it down there.’ He wasn’t a happy camper. When I came back (from Washington to negotiate an Argo contract) he was throwing around dollars like manhole covers. I remember Sazio saying, ‘Leo, just give the guy some money and sign him.’ Leo was just trying to prove a point.”
It was a somewhat rocky beginning to an Argo career that saw Masotti retire as the leading receiver in team history with 8,772 yards, a mark since surpassed by Derrell “Mookie” Mitchell.
He joined a team that had just been to a Grey Cup final and had proven pass catchers like D.K. Smith and Jeff Boyd on the roster. Masotti had just two catches as a rookie, one of which was for a touchdown.
Masotti plugged along for a half-dozen seasons as a non-descript receiver, though he did catch a touchdown pass in the Argos ’91 Grey Cup win over Calgary. It wasn’t until 1994 that he started being used more, recording his first of four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, the last two of which were with Doug Flutie as quarterback.
Somewhat surprisingly, the receiver couldn’t remember when he first heard Flutie was coming to the Argos (“It’s weird, I don’t remember.”), but he was obviously thrilled with the results. He caught 150 passes for 2,034 years in their two seasons together, becoming, along with Michael “Pinball” Clemons, Flutie’s go-to guy.
Doug Flutie was not your average quarterback. Regarded as the best to ever play the position in the CFL, Flutie was a combination of competitiveness, remarkably high football IQ, preparedness, and athleticism. He thought the game differently than most, meaning sometimes it took awhile for the QB and his receivers to be on the same page.
How long did it take for Masotti and Flutie to develop the chemistry they enjoyed together?
“It was right off the hop,” said Masotti. “It was funny because he would decide that he was going to win the game with me and one other receiver, or there were games where he literally kept it between him, Pinball, and (running back) Robert Drummond; he’d run all the inside stuff and just keep it tight. He figured if it was working, just stay with it. He was the simplest quarterback you could ever play with.”
At this point in the interview your humble typist wanted to read Masotti’s accomplishments listed in the Argo record book and get his reaction after hearing them.
He ranks second in career receiving yards, his 244-yard game in Montreal is second, his 24.4 yards per catch is the Argo record (minimum 10 catches in a game), he caught passes in 12 consecutive seasons, tied for the Argo record, he had 44 career TD catches, 21 games with 100 or more yards, is tied for second with four consecutive games with 100 or more yards, and holds the Grey Cup record for career catches and yards.
His reaction to hearing that lengthy list?
“It’s like someone else did it,” he said, his lighthearted approach to the conversation turning serious for a moment. “Honestly, it’s bizarre, I’m only humbled by it. You think that people are going to come along and break these records, or there’s another Canadian receiver that’s going to come in and get a thousand yards over and over again, and it doesn’t happen.
“I’m pretty humbled by it and had a great opportunity to play with some great, great quarterbacks, and great players. I played with two of the best football players of all time, regardless of position, and that’s Flutie and Pinball.”
Masotti retired in 2000 and immediately joined the Argos front office, first as executive vice-president, then as general manager in 2001. As a player he worked in the off seasons from the mid-90’s on as a financial advisor, but when he became an executive with the Argos he had to suspend his license in that field because you couldn’t hold two full-time jobs while you had your securities license.
After he was relieved of his GM duties he remained in the personnel department, also helping out the coaches with the receivers. Part of him wanted to stay in football and work his way back up to GM, but he had to make a choice; he could stay in football, but he’d lose his securities license, which would have expired, so he opted to leave the sport that he loved.
He worked in the financial industry until the financial crisis in 2008, then went back into education since he had earned his teaching degree at Acadia. That’s when he started teaching at Hillfield Strathallan College, a private school in Hamilton, taking the Athletic Director job there a year-and-a-half later.
He still holds that title.
Now 60, Masotti doesn’t get to as many Argo games as he’d like to, mostly playing the role of dad on weekends. When he does make it to BMO Field, he’s able to look up and see his name as one of 28 players recognized as an All-Time Argo, an honour richly deserved by one of the best receivers in team history.