Christian Saulsberry (December 12, 1997 – December 17, 2022) was an American gridiron football

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

and wide receiver who played one season in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

. He played college football at Itawamba CC and West Alabama; he also had a stint playing with the

FCF Beasts The FCF Beasts are a professional Indoor American football, Indoor Football team founded in 2020. They are a member of the Fan Controlled Football, Fan Controlled Football League and are currently owned by Marshawn Lynch, Miro (wrestler), Miro, Todd ...

. He died in December 2022 after being shot; he was still under contract with Edmonton.

Early life and education

Saulsberry was born December 12, 1997, in

Southaven, Mississippi Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Greater Memphis. The 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making Southaven the third-largest city in Mississippi and the second most populous ...

. He attended

Southaven High School Southaven High School is a public secondary school located in Southaven, Mississippi, United States. It began in the fall of 1971, when construction was completed enough so that students could start the first classes. The original school taught ...

during his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to

Northpoint Christian School Northpoint Christian School (NCS) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory Christian school located in Southaven, Mississippi. NCS was founded in 1973 by a group of Baptist ministers in the Whitehaven section of Memphis, Tennessee. Program ...

as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

. He played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and football; he was a defensive back and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in football. As a senior Saulsberry was a team captain and ran for 1,390 yards, scoring 19 combined rushing and receiving

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s; he led his team to 13 consecutive wins and the state championship where they lost 50–20. He received many honors for his senior performance, including selection to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, first-team all-state, all-district, and TSSAA Division II Offensive Player of the Year among others. Saulsberry played for two years at Northpoint Christian with 2,606 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns. Saulsberry was a two-star recruit and joined

Itawamba Community College Itawamba Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Fulton, Mississippi. Additional campuses are in Belden and Tupelo. History Itawamba Community College began as an extension of Itawamba County Agricultural High ...

in 2016 after graduating from Northpoint Christian. He played two seasons there, recording 55 catches for 658 yards and two touchdowns, being named MACJC first-team all-state in 2017. After graduating from Itawamba CC, Saulsberry joined Division II West Alabama for his final two seasons. He was named All-

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

(GSC) as a junior after compiling 52 catches for 644 yards and four scores while also recording 29 kick returns for 838 yards and one touchdown, totaling a team-leading 1,484

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing t ...

. As a senior, he again received the honor after posting 580 receiving yards and three touchdowns, with an additional 614 return yards for 1,223 total yards. Saulsberry ended his time at West Alabama with 1,224 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while appearing in 23 games.

Professional career

Saulsberry was eligible for the 2020 NFL Draft but was not selected. After not being on any team in the 2020 season, he was selected with the top pick by the

Beasts Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * the Beast (Revelation), Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English n ...

in the

Fan Controlled Football Fan Controlled Football (FCF) is a professional 7-on-7 Indoor football league created in 2017 as the first sports league controlled by fans. All games are played at the Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia and broadcast on Twitch, NBCLX, DAZN, ...

(FCF) draft. He was one of the players they

franchise tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...

ged. He scored a touchdown in the Beasts' game against the Zappers. In May 2022, Saulsberry was signed by the

of the

(CFL). In two preseason games, he recorded six kick returns for 172 yards, four rushes for nine yards and two catches for 18 yards. Although released following training camp, he was re-signed to the

practice roster In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

in August. He made his debut against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...

on August 27, eventually became the team's main

, and by October was one of the top five players in the league for punt return average with 11.6 yards per return. In a game against the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

, Saulsberry recorded 175 kick return yards, the tenth most in a single game in team history, and with an additional 30 punt return yards became the first Edmonton player in nearly a decade with over 200 return yards in one game. By his sixth game, despite missing a large chunk of the season, he was ranked seventh in the league in kick return yards and tenth in punt return yards. He also averaged 85.7 kick return yards-per-game by that time by leading all of the CFL. Saulsberry finished the season having appeared in eight games, and recorded 948 total return yards, one reception for 17 yards, and one rush for seven yards. His longest return was 51 yards on a missed field goal return. He was named the Elks' most outstanding

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player for the 2022 season.

Death

Saulsberry was shot at a party in

Walls, Mississippi Walls is a town located in northern DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River, part of the larger region known as " The Delta", and known for its rich, dark soil. As it is in the upper northwest corner of Mississipp ...

which is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, on December 17, 2022, five days after his 25th birthday. He died while en route to the hospital. The alleged shooter was arrested later that day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saulsberry, Christian 1997 births 2022 deaths Players of American football from Mississippi Players of Canadian football from Mississippi People from Southaven, Mississippi Sportspeople from the Memphis metropolitan area Itawamba Indians football players West Alabama Tigers football players Fan Controlled Football players Edmonton Elks players People murdered in Mississippi