Dejon Brissett (born July 9, 1996) is a professional Canadian football wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Richmond Spiders and the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

Early life and high school career

Brissett is a native of

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Ontario, and primarily played basketball growing up before turning his attention to football. He transferred to Lake Forest Academy in Illinois for his sophomore year, where he played basketball, football, and track. His 46-3 triple jump was the best in 2015 by more than a foot. On the football field, he played wide receiver, defense, and special teams. Brissett ran a 4.59 40-yard dash, has a vertical leap of 35 inches, and was named the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some o ...

Red Division's Offensive Player of the Year.

College career

Brissett began his collegiate career at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. He made five catches for 66 yards as a sophomore in 2016. In the second game of his junior season, Brissett made 12 receptions for 159 yards in a 20–17 win at Colgate. As a junior in 2017, he made 63 receptions for 896 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 81.5 receiving yards per game. Brissett was named to the First Team All-

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

. In 2018, he made 16 receptions for 299 yards and a touchdown, averaging 99.7 yards per game. His season was cut short after three games after an ankle injury that he suffered on September 13 against Saint Francis (PA). During his Richmond career, Brissett recorded 86 receptions for 1,282 yards and nine touchdowns and returned 41 kicks for 941 yards and one touchdown. Brissett applied for a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA, and after receiving it decided to transfer to Virginia for his final season of eligibility, despite initially saying he was going to play at Illinois. He was sparingly used by the Cavaliers, playing in 12 of 14 games and contributing two receptions for 18 yards in the season.

Professional career

Brissett was drafted second overall in the

2020 CFL Draft The 2020 CFL Draft took place on April 30, 2020 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS.. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCA ...

by the Toronto Argonauts. He joins an Argonauts team that finished with a 4–14 record in 2019. Brissett is the fourth Cavalier drafted in the CFL Draft since 2012 and first since

Trent Corney Trent Corney (born March 11, 1993) is a professional Canadian football defensive end and bodybuilder. He was drafted ninth overall by the Blue Bombers in the 2016 CFL Draft and signed with the team on May 24, 2016. He played college football for t ...

was taken in 2016 by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

and officially signed with the Argonauts on May 5, 2021. On February 5, 2024, the Argonauts announced that Brissett had signed a contract extension with the team.

Personal life

Brissett is the son of McKeitha McFarlane and Bernard Brissett, who separated when he was young. He is of Jamaican descent. Brissett is the older brother of Oshae Brissett, who played college basketball at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

before signing with the Toronto Raptors.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio

Virginia Cavaliers bio

Richmond Spiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brissett, Dejon 1996 births Living people Canadian football wide receivers Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black Canadian players of Canadian football American football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Ontario Richmond Spiders football players Virginia Cavaliers football players Sportspeople from Mississauga Toronto Argonauts players