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Danny McManus (born June 17, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He passed for over 53,000 yards in 17 seasons. He currently serves as the assistant general manager and director for U.S. scouting for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played every season in the league from 1990 to 2006, as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and finally with the Calgary Stampeders. He is a five-time Grey Cup champion, having won three times as a player and twice in a front office capacity. He is fifth all-time in passing yards in the CFL and is the all-time leading passer for the Tiger-Cats. He has also worked as a color commentator for TSN's CFL broadcasts, having previously appeared as a guest analyst on the CFL on CBC late in his playing career.
In 1987, he started every game for Florida State, leading them to an 11–1 record and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl, which they won 31–28 over Nebraska. McManus, who threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in the bowl game, was named the most valuable player, and wound up with 1,984 yards and fourteen touchdowns on the year. After this season, McManus entered the NFL draft.
Through 1991 and 1992, McManus remained with the Blue Bombers as the backup quarterback to Matt Dunigan. He made his second Grey Cup appearance in 1992, again coming in for a relief stint. This time the Blue Bombers lost the 80th Grey Cup 24–10 to Calgary at SkyDome in Toronto.
In 1995, McManus was given the reins as the Lions' full-time starter. McManus threw for 4,655 yards (second in the league behind his old mentor Dunigan) and 19 touchdowns. But the Lions' efforts to defend their Grey Cup were quickly derailed come playoff time, as the Lions were defeated by the Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Division Semi-Final despite McManus throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns.
In 1996, McManus once again was second in the league in passing yardage, this time behind Doug Flutie, with 4,425 yards. This total was third highest for a single season in Edmonton history. His 582 pass attempts were second in a single season in Edmonton history. The Eskimos finished second in the Western Division. In the West Semi-Final at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the Eskimos slaughtered McManus’ former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 68–7. Edmonton defeated Calgary 15–12 the following week in the West Final. In the Grey Cup game, played in driving snow at Ivor Wynne Stadium, the Toronto Argonauts defeated Edmonton in the 84th Grey Cup 43–37. McManus had an excellent game despite the conditions with 413 yards (4th all-time in a Grey Cup game) and three touchdowns (tied for 2nd all-time in a Grey Cup game), but was outplayed by Toronto's Flutie, who was named the most outstanding player. McManus's only interception of the game came when Doug Flutie's brother Darren Flutie fell trying to catch a well-thrown ball, and the ball ricocheted off of Flutie and into the waiting arms of a Toronto defensive back, who returned it for a touchdown.
1997 was a slight regression for him, but not for the Eskimos as they won their division for the first time since 1991. McManus fell to fourth in passing yardage but was still the Edmonton nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Edmonton was hosting the 85th Grey Cup that year and hopes were high that the Eskimos would play at it, but Edmonton lost a heart-breaking Western final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31–30. McManus threw for an excellent 407 yards in the game in a losing effort.
Despite the disappointment of 1998, McManus rebounded in superb fashion for 1999. Throwing for 5,334 yards and 28 touchdowns, McManus won his first, and only, Most Outstanding Player award. The icing on the cake came on the 87th Grey Cup, where McManus thwarted the Stampeders' drive for a repeat in a rematch of the previous year's championship game. Garcia was gone to the NFL but his replacement Dave Dickenson had proven very dangerous; however, the Tiger-Cats took their first Grey Cup since 1986 with a 32–21 victory. It was McManus's third Grey Cup and his sixth appearance in the big game.
In 2000, McManus set the CFL record with six straight seasons throwing for at least 4,000 yards. But, after their Grey Cup victory, the Tiger-Cats were beginning to enter a long spiral to the East Division basement. The team finished a disappointing 9–9 and lost the East Semi-Final to Winnipeg. 2001 was a slight resurgence as the Tiger-Cats finished 11–7, but another loss to Winnipeg in the East Final sent the Tiger-Cats home early. By 2002, the Tiger-Cats were running on fumes and went down to 7–11, ahead of only the expansion Ottawa Renegades. For the first time in his CFL career, Danny McManus missed the playoffs.
McManus turned 38 during the 2003 CFL season and there was speculation he might retire following the season. The Tiger-Cats were one of the worst teams in Canadian football history that year. Despite starting fifteen games, McManus threw for only 2,869 yards, snapping his record streak of consecutive 4,000-yard seasons at eight. McManus might have been hurt by the loss of preferred target Darren Flutie to retirement. The Tiger-Cats finished 1–17, with their lone win being an overtime victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
2004 was significantly stronger for McManus, as was his team. For the second time in his career, McManus threw for over 5,000 yards despite turning 39 early in the season. The Tiger-Cats shocked the Canadian football world by finishing 9–8–1, an accomplishment amazing enough for rookie head coach Greg Marshall to be named coach of the year and McManus to receive the Rogers-AT&T Fan Choice Award, sharing it with Anthony Calvillo. McManus became the third player in CFL history to reach 50,000 passing yards. In Hamilton's sole playoff game, they lost the East Semi-Final to rivals Toronto 24–6.
The Tiger-Cats were unable to build on their 2004 success, and in the 2005 season finished in the league's basement at 5–13, with a defense that allowed 583 points. McManus threw for 2,544 yards and eleven touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 67.1, and spent time on the bench in favor of Khari Jones, Marcus Brady, and the unknown Kevin Eakin who all took snaps.
McManus is first in Hamilton Tiger-Cats franchise history in career passing yards (33,841), pass attempts (4,257), completions (2,368) and touchdown passes (164). second in Tiger-Cats history in passing yards in a single game (525), fourth all-time in CFL career passing yards (53,255).
On December 2, 2013, it was announced that McManus has been hired as the assistant general manager and director of U.S. scouting for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was hired by his former Tiger-Cats teammate, Kyle Walters, who was Winnipeg Blue Bomber's general manager.
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