LaCale London (born August 5, 1997) is an American football nose tackle for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

of the National Football League (NFL). 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 ...

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

and was signed by 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent in .

Early years

LaCale London was born on August 5, 1997, in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. He attended Peoria High School there, earning all-conference and defensive player of the year honors. After graduating, London spent one year at Iowa Central Community College, playing in six games as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

and recording 32 tackles. He also made six

quarterback sacks In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the ...

College career

London later transferred to Western Illinois University, playing in all eleven games in 2018. He recorded 23 tackles and 3.5 sacks, earning him a place on the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVCF) All-Newcomer team. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, London started all twelve games and tied for second in the MVCF with three forced fumbles. He totaled 45 tackles, earning him second-team All-MVCF honors by Phil Steele.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

After going unselected in the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

, London was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. He was released at roster cuts but later re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He spent the entire season on the practice squad, and did not see any playing time. London was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

to start the season, but was released with an injury settlement on September 8. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 2, and activated in December. He made his NFL debut on December 20, playing on one snap in a loss versus the Minnesota Vikings. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 11, 2022. He was waived on August 23, 2022.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On November 17, 2022, London was drafted by the

St. Louis BattleHawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. 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 A ...

of the XFL. After posting two forced fumbles in a win over the Seattle Sea Dragons, he was named the XFL Defensive Player of the Week. He was released from his contract on May 15, 2023.

Atlanta Falcons

On May 16, 2023, London signed with the

. He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad. On October 24, 2023, the Falcons signed London to the active roster. He was placed on injured reserve on November 1. He was activated on December 16.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:London, LaCale 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Peoria, Illinois American football defensive tackles Iowa Central Tritons football players Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Chicago Bears players St. Louis Battlehawks players Atlanta Falcons players