Jason Arakgi (born May 12, 1985) is a former

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 ...

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for 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 ...

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

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

for the

McMaster Marauders The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation department. The unive ...

Professional career

Arakgi was drafted in the 3rd round of the

2008 CFL Draft The 2008 CFL Draft took place on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, live at 12:00 PM ET on TSN.ca. A total of 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the ...

by the

. He made the active roster in his rookie year and played in all 18 regular season games and made an immediate impact on special teams as he recorded 32 special teams tackles in his first year. He continued to play on special teams throughout his career while also serving as a backup linebacker. On August 19, 2016, in a 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 ...

, Arakgi became the CFL's all-time leader in

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles with 185, passing

Wade Miller Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to: Places in the United States * Wade, California, a former settlement * Wade, Maine, a town * Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place * Wade, North Carolina, a town * Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...

. On June 17, 2017, he announced after playing in the team's final pre-season game that he was retiring from professional football. He finished his career with a CFL-record 190 special teams tackles in 155 regular season games, along with 26 defensive tackles and two forced fumbles. His special teams tackles record was surpassed by Mike Miller on August 21, 2021.

Personal life

Arakgi was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and grew up in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

. He is the son of CFL receiver

Nick Arakgi Nick Arakgi (born August 9, 1955) is a former professional Canadian football star receiver in the Canadian Football League. In a nine-season career, Arakgi played for the Montreal Alouettes, Montreal Concordes, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers and made t ...

References

External links

Canadian Football League profile
* * 1985 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian football defensive backs McMaster Marauders football players Sportspeople from Oakville, Ontario Players of Canadian football from Ontario Players of Canadian football from Quebec Canadian football people from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of Egyptian descent {{Canadianfootball-defensiveback-stub