Ellis Lankster (born June 3, 1986) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the

West Virginia Roughriders The West Virginia Roughriders are a professional indoor football team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They were founded in 2016 as the Richmond Roughriders and played at the Richmond Coliseum in 2017 and 2018. They were members the Arena Pro ...

of the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL o ...

(AAL). He was drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the seventh round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. 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 ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He has also been a member of 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

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

College career

Lankster played his freshman and sophomore years at

Jones County Junior College Jones College is a public community college in Ellisville, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves its eight-county district consisting of Clarke, Covington, Gree ...

. He finished his collegiate career at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. He also played in the

2009 Senior Bowl The 2009 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2008 college football season, and prospects for the 2009 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). It was the 60th edition of the Se ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

On August 15, 2009, in a preseason game against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, Lankster intercepted Bears' backup quarterback Brett Basanez twice within a span of 64 seconds. Both turnovers led to touchdowns for Buffalo, ultimately helping them win the game 27-20. Lankster got some playing time in the 2009 season as a cornerback in

nickel defense American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features ...

situations, due to injuries to other defensive backs. Head coach

Perry Fewell Perry Fewell (born September 7, 1962) is an American football coach. He currently serves as the senior vice president of officiating administration for the National Football League's officiating department. Previously, he served as the defensive ...

said of Lankster, "we think he's gotten better every week for us." He finished the 2009 season with five tackles. Buffalo released Lankster on the deadline for final roster adjustments in the 2010 preseason, September 4.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Lankster was signed by the

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 ...

on October 11, 2010. He did not play for Hamilton during his time with the club, rather he learned the intricacies of

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

New York Jets

Lankster signed a future contract with the

on January 5, 2011. He was waived on September 2. He was re-signed to the active roster on October 11. His playing time greatly increased in 2012, including significant assignments covering fast receivers, following an injury to

Isaiah Trufant Isaiah J. Trufant (born December 9, 1982) is a former American football cornerback and special teamer. He was signed by the Spokane Shock as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Eastern Washington. Trufant was also a mem ...

. He was released on September 1, 2014. He was re-signed on September 12. He was released on September 23, 2014.

Second Stint with the Buffalo Bills

Lankster signed with the Buffalo Bills on August 17, 2015. The signing marked his return to the team that drafted him. He joined his previous head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

. He was released by the team on August 31.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (II)

On April 15, 2016, Lankster once again signed with the

of the

Atlanta Havoc

Lankster signed with the

Atlanta Havoc Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 li ...

in December 2017.

References

External links

New York Jets bio

West Virginia bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lankster, Ellis 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Mobile, Alabama Vigor High School alumni American football cornerbacks Jones County Bobcats football players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Buffalo Bills players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players New York Jets players American Arena League players