Jacob Tanner Ceresna (born July 9, 1994) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

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 ...

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). 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 ...

at Cortland. Ceresna has also been a member of the

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 ...

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). Startin ...

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 ...

and

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

College career

Ceresna played one season for

Southern Connecticut State Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is g ...

before transferring to

SUNY Cortland The State University of New York College at Cortland (SUNY Cortland or Cortland State College) is a public college in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History The State Un ...

. He graduated from Cortland with a B.S. cum laude in exercise science in 2016.

Professional career

New York Jets

After going undrafted in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

, Ceresna signed with the

on August 14, 2016. He was Waived/Injured on August 30, 2016 and placed on the injury reserve after sustaining a lower body injury.

Ottawa Redblacks

After recording two sacks and eighteen

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

in his rookie season, Ceresna was traded to the

for

Odell Willis.

Edmonton Eskimos

Ceresna amassed 32 defensive tackles and 8 sacks in 18 games with the Eskimos. Ceresna was released by the Eskimos on January 2, 2019 in order for him to sign with the

New York Giants

On January 2, 2019, Ceresna signed a reserve/future contract with the

. Ceresna was released by the Giants on August 31, 2019 during final roster cuts.

XFL

In October 2019, Ceresna was drafted by the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

in the open phase of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

. Ceresna decided to not sign with the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

and to remain in the

CFL 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 ...

, citing the lack of a Players Association.

Edmonton Eskimos / Elks (II)

On November 5, 2019, Ceresna was signed to the Eskimos' practice roster after a brief stint with the

. He signed a futures contract for the 2020 season on November 19, 2019, however the season was later cancelled 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 ...

. In his first season back with Edmonton Ceresna played in 13 of 14 regular season games, contributing with a career high 34 defensive tackles and five sacks. He signed a contract extension through the 2022 season on January 11, 2021. Ceresna had a breakout campaign in 2022, registering 10 quarterback sacks and he was named a CFL All-Star as a result. On January 11, 2023 Ceresna and the Elks agreed to a two-year contract extension. On July 5, 2023, Ceresna was fined the maximum amount by the league after his low hit on Ottawa quarterback Tyrie Adams the prior weekend. The play resulted in Adams suffering an ACL injury that ended his season.

Coaching career

Ceresna was briefly the assistant

offensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for

Cortland State Cortland may refer to: Places In space * 27776 Cortland, an asteroid United States * Cortland, Illinois, a town * Cortland, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Cortland, Nebraska, a village * Cortland, New York, a city * Cortland, Ohio, a city ...

before he signed with the

References

External links

Edmonton Elks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceresna, Jake 1994 births Living people American football defensive ends Players of Canadian football from Connecticut Cortland Red Dragons football players Cortland Red Dragons football coaches Edmonton Elks players New York Giants players New York Jets players Ottawa Redblacks players People from New Fairfield, Connecticut Players of American football from Fairfield County, Connecticut Coaches of American football from Connecticut Canadian football defensive linemen