Jacob Dearborn (born June 15, 1994) is a professional Canadian football

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is also an Olympic bobsledder and represented

Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics Canada competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The 2022 Winter Olympics were held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. Canada has competed at all 24 editions of the Winter Olympics. On November 17, 2020 two time Olympic gold medallist in s ...

Amateur career

Following high school graduation, Dearborn attended Holland College for the school's electrician program. While studying there, he played at

, punter, and

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

Holland Hurricanes Holland College is the provincial community college for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (PEI). It is named after the British Army engineer and surveyor Captain Samuel Holland. History It was formed by the Government of Prince E ...

in the

Atlantic Football League The Atlantic Football League (AFL) is an amateur club-level Canadian football league that features four teams based in Atlantic Canada. The league is for players aged 18–24 that either attend universities without U Sports football programs or f ...

(AFL) from 2013 to 2015 where he was a member of three straight Moosehead Cup championships. He was named an AFL All-Star in 2015 and graduated from the Industrial Electrical Technology program that year. In 2016, Dearborn enrolled at Carleton University, where he played for the Ravens of U Sports football for three years. With the Ravens, he played in 23 games where he recorded 50.5 defensive tackles, seven interceptions, eight pass breakups, and one fumble recovery.

Professional career

Dearborn first participated in a CFL Regional Combine in Montreal in 2016, where he would have had the opportunity to sign with a Canadian Football League team as a free agent. After going unsigned, he played in U Sports for three years. He was draft-eligible in 2019 and again participated in the CFL's Montreal Regional Combine, where he set an all-time combine record with a broad jump of 11'1" and set an Eastern Regional Combine record for defensive backs with a vertical jump of 41 inches. He was then invited to the 2019 National Combine, where he led all participants with a 42-inch vertical jump. However, Dearborn was not selected in the

2019 CFL Draft The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the United States on NCAA or ...

. As an undrafted free agent, Dearborn signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on May 10, 2019. He played in the team's first preseason game against the Calgary Stampeders, but suffered a calf injury which led to his eventual release on June 8, 2019. Upon his recovery, he was re-signed by the Roughriders on July 14, 2019, to a practice roster agreement. Soon after, he played in his first professional football game on July 20, 2019, against the BC Lions. In his rookie season, Dearborn played mostly on special teams where he recorded four special teams tackles in 14 regular season games played. He also played in the team's lone post-season game, which was a West Final loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Dearborn 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 ...

. He made the team's active roster following

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

training camp and recorded his first career defensive tackle in the opening game on August 6, 2021, against the BC Lions. After the second game of the season, he was placed on the disabled list with a non-football injury and sat out the next five games. He returned to the active roster in week nine but was then moved to the practice roster in the following week. After being promoted to the active roster for the next game against the Calgary Stampeders, Dearborn had a career-high six defensive tackles and recorded his first career interception as the Roughriders won 20–17. He finished the season having played in eight regular season games with 18 defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, and two interceptions. He played in the Roughriders' West Semi-Final win against the Stampeders but was on the injured list for the team's West Final loss to the Blue Bombers. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

Bobsledding

With his football career undecided in 2019, Dearborn was first introduced to the sport of bobsleigh. With the

cancelled, he was able to focus on training for bobsleigh in an effort to make the national team. On January 20, 2022, Dearborn was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team. The team finished in 23rd place.

Personal life

Dearborn was born in

Yarker John Yarker (17 April 1833 – 20 March 1913) was an England, English List of Freemasons, Freemason, author, and occultist. He was born in Swindale, Shap, Westmorland, in the north of England. He moved with his parents to Lancashire and on to ...

, Ontario to parents Ken Dearborn and Liz Shibley. He has one older brother, CFL Free Agent Chris Shibley and three older sisters; Lauren Dearborn, Elizabeth Dearborn and Julie O’Neil.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearborn, Jacob 1994 births Living people Atlantic Football League players Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from Ontario Carleton Ravens football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players People from Lennox and Addington County Bobsledders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Canada