Mike Vilimek (born January 5, 1979) is a former 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 ...

player. Vilimek played the

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

position. During the offseasons, Vilimek held marketing and business development positions at

Ballard Power Systems Ballard Power Systems Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products for markets such as heavy-duty motive (consisting of bus and tram applications), portable power, material handling as well as engineer ...

, Protexis Inc., and Serebra Learning Corp. He has also held leadership positions at

ACL (software) Galvanize (formerly known as ACL Services Ltd.) is a privately owned software as a service (SaaS) company founded and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company builds security, risk management, compliance and audit softw ...

, Talent Technology, and

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

Early years

Vilimek was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and played tailback and linebacker in high school at

Windsor Secondary School Description Founded in 1961, Windsor Secondary School currently has an enrollment of 950 students. In 2009, Windsor introduced a French immersion program. Windsor Secondary is constructed entirely out of steel and concrete and consists of five ...

in North Vancouver. Following high school, Vilimek attended

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

located in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. As a tailback, Vilimek set school records for most rushing yards in a single game (315) versus Humboldt State on November 3, 2001, and most rushing yards in a single season (1,187) in 2001. Vilimek was also named SFU’s athlete of the year in 2001. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business with a focus on marketing and international business.

Professional career

Vilimek was invited to a mini-camp with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

but did not sign with the team. Vilimek was drafted in the first round (2nd overall) of the

CFL Draft The CFL Draft (also known as the CFL Canadian Draft, CFL College Draft or the Canadian College Draft) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian Football League#Players and compensat ...

by the

Ottawa Renegades The Ottawa Renegades were a Canadian Football League franchise based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, six years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded. After four seasons, the Renegades franchise was suspended indefinitely by the league ...

in 2002. Vilimek was transferred to fullback and played on special teams for 3 seasons with Ottawa from 2002 to 2004. As a free agent, Vilimek signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

in 2005. In his first season in Montreal, Vilimek scored 5 touchdowns and lead the team in special teams tackles. Vilimek tore his ACL in a game versus the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

on July 26, 2007, and missed the remainder of the season. On December 11, 2008, Vilimek was released along with

Jeff Keeping Jeff Keeping (born July 19, 1982) is a former professional offensive lineman/centre of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and is currently serving as the Canadian Football League Players' Association's President. Jeff was elected President of the C ...

External links

Mike Vilimek's MontrealAlouettes.com Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilimek, Mike Living people 1979 births Sportspeople from North Vancouver Canadian football fullbacks Simon Fraser Red Leafs football players Ottawa Renegades players Montreal Alouettes players Players of Canadian football from British Columbia