Dean Faithfull (The Badger) (born 23 May 1987) is an English

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

for the Edmonton Elks of 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). Formerly a soccer player, he played the sport in college from 2007 to 2010 at

Florida Tech The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Appr ...

and later played across the world in semi-professional leagues. In 2021, he began playing football for the CSU Pueblo Thunderwolves, becoming the oldest

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

football player in history. He was selected with the second overall pick of the

2023 CFL Global Draft The 2023 CFL Global Draft was a selection of non-Canadian and non-American players by Canadian Football League (CFL) teams that took place on May 2, 2023. It was the third CFL Draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously ...

by the Elks.

Early life and soccer career

Faithfull was born on 23 May 1987, in the United Kingdom. He grew up in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and attended Tauntons College, but later moved to the U.S. to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for the

Florida Tech Panthers The Florida Tech Panthers are the athletic teams that represent the Florida Institute of Technology, located in Melbourne, Florida, in intercollegiate athletics at the Division II level of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), competin ...

. He played four years for the Panthers, from 2007 to 2010, as a defender. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, he started 13 games and scored one goal, after which he started 15 games in 2008 and posted nine shots. In 2009, Faithfull played in all 17 matches and started 16, tying for the team lead with four assists. He started all 18 games in 2010 and anchored the team's defense, totaling a career-high seven points and a team-high 1,626 minutes played. After his stint with the Florida Tech Panthers, Faithfull played two years of soccer for a club in the second tier of the Australian soccer league system, followed by one year in the Liga FPD, the top division of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He then went on to play in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and for a team in the

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

College football career

Faithfull visited his Florida Tech coach in 2019, who asked him if he wanted to play for the school's football team as they needed a new

. He still was academically eligible for two semesters and tried out for the team. His tryout was successful and he was offered a scholarship, with the plan that he would join the team in the summer of 2020; however, the team was discontinued due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Faithfull was later brought in for a tryout by the CSU Pueblo Thunderwolves, after they hired a coach who knew him. He made the team for the 2021 season and, aged 34, became the oldest

player of all time. His role included kicking

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

extra points The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

, and making the kickoffs. In his only year with the ThunderWolves, he went 7-for-12 on field goals, scored 20 extra points, and averaged 58.5 yards off 44 kickoffs, while making 24

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

s. Faithfull graduated from the school in December 2021 with a master's degree in business.

Professional career

Faithfull was selected with the second overall pick of the

by the Edmonton Elks. In preseason, he made 6-of-9 attempts, with the final one being blocked against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He made the final roster and became the team's oldest player at 36 despite being a rookie. In his debut, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he converted both of his two field goal attempts and averaged 66.5 yards per kickoff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faithfull, Dean 1987 births Living people English players of American football Canadian football placekickers American football placekickers Sportspeople from Hampshire Florida Tech Panthers men's soccer players CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves football players Edmonton Elks players English players of Canadian football