Chris Getzlaf (born January 9, 1983) is a Canadian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

slotback Slotback, sometimes referred to as an A-back or slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side. A player who lines up ...

who played 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) from 2007 to 2017. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 CFL Draft, 33rd overall, by the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

, and was later traded that season to the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. He has also been a member of the

Edmonton Eskimos 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 ...

. Prior to turning pro, Getzlaf played with the

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 ...

team

Prairie Thunder ''Prairie Thunder'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by B. Reeves Eason and written by Ed Earl Repp. The film stars Dick Foran, Janet Shaw, Frank Orth, Wilfred Lucas, Albert J. Smith and Yakima Canutt. The film was released by Warner ...

and the collegiate team Regina Rams in his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan.

Early and personal life

Born and raised in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

, Getzlaf grew up playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

in addition to

with his younger brother, Ryan, an

NHL All-Star The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

, two-time Olympic gold medalist and

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champion for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

. Getzlaf is married to Tia.

Professional career

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Getzlaf was chosen by the

in the fifth round, 33rd overall, in the 2007 CFL Draft. After dressing for the first two games of the season, he spent the rest of the season on two teams' practice rosters.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Getzlaf was traded to the

with Corey Holmes in exchange for

Jason Armstead Jason Armstead (born September 18, 1979) is a former professional Canadian football and American football kick returner and wide receiver. Armstead is currently a free-agent. He was most recently a member of the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian ...

on August 19, 2007. While he was on the practice roster during the Roughriders'

2007 Grey Cup The 95th Grey Cup was held in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on November 25, 2007. The Grey Cup, first awarded in 1909, is the championship game of the Canadian Football League. It was played between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnip ...

victory, he still shared in the win, meaning that both he and his brother, Ryan, ended up 2007 champions with their respective teams. Getzlaf started the 2008 season on the practice roster, but with a rash of injuries at the receiver position, he was pressed into action, making his Riders debut on Oct 3, 2008. In this game against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

, he recorded his first career CFL catch and touchdown, finishing the game with five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. He dressed for the final five games of the season, finishing with 15 catches for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also contributed one catch for 13 yards in the Roughriders' loss to the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

in the 2008 West Semi-Final. Heading into the 2009 season, Getzlaf spent the first four weeks as a backup receiver. After Andy Fantuz was injured in a week-4 game against

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Getzlaf started the week-5 game against the

. He had five receptions for 101 yards and two touchdowns including the opening score of the game and a 65-yard touchdown with 1:17 remaining in the game to give the Roughriders a 24–23 comeback victory. It was the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. Once Fantuz came back from injury in the

Banjo Bowl The Banjo Bowl is the annual rematch game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) after the Labour Day Classic. While the traditional Labour Day Classic game is always played on the ...

, Getzlaf retained his starter's position, with

Jason Clermont Jason Clermont (born May 24, 1978) is a former professional Canadian football slotback who retired after ten seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders. Clermont started his professional career wit ...

being relegated to a backup role; hence, he started 14 games during the regular season. Getzlaf finished with a team-leading six touchdown receptions and was tied with Andy Fantuz for the team lead in

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

s with two. Of his nine career touchdowns (including post-season), six have come against the Stampeders. In the 2009 West Final, Getzlaf had three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown, which was part of the 27-17 win over the Stampeders that featured all Roughrider scoring by Canadian players. He had two catches for 15 yards in the 2009 Grey Cup, a 28-27 loss to the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

. On Jan. 15, 2010, it was formally announced that Getzlaf had re-signed with the Roughriders, rather than becoming a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. On June 20, 2012, the Riders announced that Getzlaf had signed a contract extension. Getzlaf was named the Most Valuable Canadian player in the

101st Grey Cup The 101st Grey Cup was a Canadian football game played between the East Division champion Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the West Division champion Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League to decide the Grey Cup champions of the 2013 ...

. On December 5, 2013, Getzlaf signed a contract extension with the Roughriders, promising to keep him in Saskatchewan through the 2015 season. After not being re-signed following the 2015 season Getzlaf became a free agent on February 9, 2016.

Edmonton Eskimos

On February 25, 2016, Getzlaf signed with the

of the

. Getzlaf's tenure with the club ended after a year and a half, when he was released by the club on September 26, 2017.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (II)

On October 16, 2017, Getzlaf was added to the

practice roster. He was promoted to the active roster on November 12. He announced his retirement on January 4, 2018.

Statistics

Awards

*First Team All-Canadian (collegiate) - 2006

References

External links

*
ChrisGetzlaf.com Official WebsiteSaskatchewan Roughriders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Getzlaf, Chris 1983 births Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Living people Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Regina Rams players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian Junior Football League players Edmonton Elks players