Liam Dobson (born February 6, 1998) is a professional

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 ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

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 was drafted third overall in the

2021 CFL Draft The 2021 CFL National Draft was a selection of National players by Canadian Football League teams that took place at May 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 54 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadia ...

by the Blue Bombers. He played college football for the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice ...

and

Texas State Bobcats The Texas State Bobcats are the sports teams that represent Texas State University. Currently, they compete in the Sun Belt Conference in NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for football). The Bobcat has been the mascot of Texas State Univ ...

College career

Maine

A highly-touted prospect out of Canada, Dobson was recruited by number of FBS and FCS schools, including

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, Buffalo,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, Colgate, and Fordham. Dobson committed to Maine. In his 2017 freshman season, he participated in six games on an offensive line which allowed the fewest sacks in the

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

. In 2018 Dobson stepped into the starting lineup at right guard, helping guide Maine to the CAA Championship and into the final four of the FCS Playoffs. After the season Dobson received All-CAA second team honors and was named an honorable mention on HERO Sports' Sophomore All-American team. The following season, Dobson was named to the 2019 Preseason All-CAA team. He started all 12 games, splitting time between guard and tackle, and averaged twelve knockdowns per game en route to STATS FCS All-American, All-CAA, and Phil Steele FCS All-Conference honors. Additionally, Dobson was the recipient of Maine's annual honor for offensive linemen: the Sam Sezak Outstanding Offensive Lineman award. Dobson again received Preseason All-American and All-Conference accolades in 2020. However, after the postponement of the CAA football season 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 ...

, Dobson entered the transfer portal.

Texas State

Dobson received numerous scholarship offers from FBS schools once in the transfer portal, ultimately committing to Texas State. After his one season in

San Marcos San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to: Towns and cities Argentina * San Marcos, Salta Colombia * San Marcos, Antioquia * San Marcos, Sucre Costa Rica * San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú) ...

, he was named a PFF All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention while also making the Dean List.

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

After failing to get picked up by an NFL team after mini-camps with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and

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 ...

, Dobson expressed interest in joining the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

but found that the league was not allowed to issue the necessary

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due to a lack of revenue. Dobson signed with the

in May 2022.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bioTexas State Bobcats bioMaine Black Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Liam 1998 births Living people Canadian football people from Winnipeg American football offensive guards Maine Black Bears football players Texas State Bobcats football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian football offensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Manitoba Players of American football from Manitoba