Miles Fox (born January 23, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Was invited to Mini Camp with the Buffalo Bills in 2022. He played college football for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). Prior to playing for Wake Forest as a graduate transfer, he attended and played football for the Old Dominion University Monarchs of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

(C-USA). At Old Dominion, he earned 2017 All-

Honorable Mention honors. In 2020, at Wake Forest, he was named to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

’ (AP) All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

First Team, ACC Media and Coaches’ All-ACC Third Team,

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, prod ...

’s All-ACC Fourth Team, as well as nominated for the ACC's Piccolo Award, which recognizes the Conference's Comeback Player of the Year, based on Fox's 2020 season performance after having suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Spring 2019 and missing the entire 2019 season due to the injury. In 2021, he was named to the All-

Second Team by the AP, Phil Steele,

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

, and

Lindy's Sports ''Lindy's Sports'', also known as ''Lindy's'', is a sports magazine. It was established in 1982, and is located in Birmingham, Alabama. Lindy Davis is its publisher and founder, having started the magazine when he was a 26-year-old student at Sa ...

High school career

Fox attended and played football at

Collins Hill High School Collins Hill High School is a public high school in Gwinnett County, near Suwanee, Georgia, United States. The school is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools. The only school which feeds into it is Creekland Middle School. Collins Hill wa ...

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

, where he was a team captain for both his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, he earned ''

Gwinnett Daily Post The ''Gwinnett Daily Post'' is a daily newspaper published in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and serves as the county's legal organ. The newspaper is owned by Southern Community Newspapers Inc. and prints Wednesday and Sunday each week. History In 19 ...

'' Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against

Central Gwinnett High School Central Gwinnett High School is a public high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States. The school is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools. Jordan Middle School and Moore Middle School are its feeders. Orchestra The Central Gwinnett ...

, in which he posted nine tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, and two quarterback hurries. He also recorded 16 tackles and four tackles for loss against

Norcross High School Norcross High School is a public high school in Norcross, Georgia, United States, part of the Gwinnett County School System, and serving the cities of Norcross and Peachtree Corners. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. The school is also th ...

. He earned Class 7A First Team All-County and First Team All-Region 6 honors after recording 80 tackles, eight sacks, and one fumble recovery. As a part of the class of 2015, he was a three-star college football recruit prospect. He committed to attend and play college football at Old Dominion University of Conference USA in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, over scholarship offers from

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

, and

South Alabama South Alabama is the various parts of southern Alabama. Although it is not a strictly defined geographic region, it generally includes all Alabama counties south of the Black Belt. In that view, ''South Alabama'' consists of just the two counties ...

College career

2015

In his college football debut against

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, Fox made two solo tackles and one tackle for loss as a freshman reserve defensive tackle for

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

. His best freshman season performance came against

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

, in which he recorded four tackles (one solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sack. The following game, he made his first career start at defensive tackle against

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and recorded four tackles. He forced his first career fumble against Florida International. He finished his 2015 freshman season with appearances in all 12 games, starting one, and recorded 25 tackles (nine solo), three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits/hurries, one forced fumble, and 0.5 sack.

2016

As a sophomore, Fox played in 11 games, starting 9, at defensive tackle for

. His best games of the season came against

, in which he posted eight tackles (four solo) and one tackle for loss, and UTSA, in which he recorded one solo tackle, one tackle for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble. Fox helped the Monarchs to its first postseason bowl and first bowl victory in program history as they defeated

24–20 in the

2016 Bahamas Bowl The 2016 Bahamas Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 23, 2016 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau in the Bahamas. The third edition of the Bahamas Bowl featured the 2016 Eastern Michigan ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

. He finished the 2016 season with 27 tackles (13 solo), seven quarterback hurries, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble. His seven quarterback hurries mark is tied for the fifth-most all-time in a single season in Old Dominion program history.

2017

’s season-opener against Albany, Fox recorded seven tackles (four solo), 1.5 sacks, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Against

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, he recorded six tackles (two solo), career-high two sacks (tied for single-game team-high on the season), and two tackles for loss. He recorded six tackles (three solo) against then-No. 13-ranked

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Against Florida Atlantic, in which he made seven tackles (two solo), one forced fumble, one sack, and one tackle for loss. In the final game of the season against

, he recorded eight tackles (tying his career-high), including six solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss (single-game team-high on the season), and one sack. As a junior, Fox started all 12 games at defensive tackle, and finished the 2017 season with the fourth-most tackles (57), second-most sacks (5.5), and third-most tackles for loss (9) on his team. His 5.5 sacks are tied for the eighth-most in a single season in Old Dominion history. His season performance earned him 2017 All-

Honorable Mention honors. He is one of 31 Old Dominion players to ever receive All-Conference USA recognition in program history (excluding Conference USA All-Freshman Team members). In an interview with

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

, he attributed, in part, his significant jump in performance and productivity during the 2017 season to his incorporation of

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

into his prior off-season's training regimen, which provided him with increased flexibility and athleticism.

2018

As a senior, Fox started four games at defensive tackle for the

Monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

. He recorded his first and only career rushing attempt in Old Dominion's season-opening game against

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. Although playing through injury and limited to special teams, he contributed to the biggest victory in Old Dominion history, and its first win over a Power-5 Conference opponent since the football program resumed in 2009, when the Monarchs defeated the No. 13-ranked

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 va ...

. After starting the first four games of the 2018 season, he did not appear in another game and ultimately

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the season after sustaining a pair of ruptured ligaments as well as grade three

turf toe A metatarsophalangeal joint sprain is an injury to the connective tissue between the foot and a toe (at a metatarsophalangeal joint, one of the joints in the ball of the foot). When the big toe is involved, it is known as "turf toe". Causes Turf ...

. Redshirting the 2018 season allowed Fox to retain his final year of collegiate eligibility. In his three-plus seasons playing defensive tackle at Old Dominion, Fox appeared in 39 games, starting 26, and recorded 116 tackles (52 solo), 16.5 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits/hurries, eight sacks, and three forced fumbles. His eight career sacks at Old Dominion is the ninth-most all-time in program history.

2019

After graduating from Old Dominion, Fox enrolled at Wake Forest University in January 2019 and joined the Demon Deacons’ football team as a graduate transfer. In transferring from Old Dominion to Wake Forest, Fox was a part of the first off-season of the “

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

’s” existence following the NCAA's change to the college athlete transfer rules, which allowed for active college football players to enter their names into the portal and permitted other programs to initiate recruiting contact with portal players for potential transfer. After recovering from

plantar plate In the human foot, the plantar or volar plates (also called plantar or volar ligaments) are fibrocartilaginous structures found in the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and interphalangeal (IP) joints. The anatomy and composition of the plantar plates ar ...

surgery on his 2018 season injuries, he joined the Demon Deacons’ football team for its off-season training program. However, just three days after being medically cleared (plantar injury) to participate in spring practice, he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in a non-contact drill before a scrimmage, which forced him to miss the 2019 season and required surgery and 14 months of recovery and rehabilitation.

2020

In 2020, Fox appeared in all nine of Wake Forest’s games, starting the final five games, at defensive tackle. In his Wake Forest debut and 2020 season-opening game against No. 1-ranked Clemson, Fox recorded two solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack of

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National C ...

, who would go on to be the 2020 ACC Player of the Year (football),

ACC Athlete of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference Athlete of the Year award is given to the male and female athlete who show extraordinary talent throughout the entire season. The award is decided by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Anthony J. ...

(all sports), and

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

runner-up. In Wake Forest’s December 12 game against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, he recorded six solo tackles, a career-high four tackles for loss, and one sack, which earned him ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors. He finished the season with 24 tackles (17 solo), one pass breakup, one quarterback hit/hurry, and one fumble recovery. He recorded a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss and ranked third on the Demon Deacons in sacks with 3.5. Of Wake Forest’s graduate transfers, Fox, along with placekicker, Jack Crane, registered the most playing time during the 2020 season. His season performance earned him national attention as well as numerous high-profile honors, including AP All-ACC First Team, ACC Media and Coaches’ All-ACC Third Team, and Phil Steele's All-ACC Fourth Team. Coming off of his ruptured Achilles injury in 2019, his 2020 season performance also earned him recognition as a nominee for the Piccolo Award, given to the ACC's Comeback Player of the Year.

2021

Fox returned to Wake Forest for the 2021 season and his seventh season of college football, invoking the NCAA's decision to grant athletes an extra year of eligibility 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 ...

. Entering the season, Fox was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Second Team by Phil Steele, Athlon Sports, and Lindy's Sports. He was named a Wake Forest team captain for the 2021 season. In Wake Forest’s season-opening game against his former team,

, Fox recorded five tackles (three solo) in the Demon Deacons’ 42–10 victory. He was named to the Pro Football Network's College Football Team of the Week First Team for his Week 4 efforts against

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 ...

, in which he recorded two tackles (one solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sack, one quarterback hit, and six quarterback pressures. Starting at defensive tackle in all 12 games in which he played, Fox helped Wake Forest to an 8–0 start to the 2021 season, ranking as high as No. 9 in both the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

Rankings and the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. The Demon Deacons ultimately finished the season as the No. 15-ranked team nationally with an 11–3 record and 38–10 victory over

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, in which he recorded four tackles (three solo), one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hurry. He finished the season with 34 tackles (14 solo) and two quarterback hits/hurries. His seven tackles for loss and three sacks both ranked fourth-most on the team, respectively. Fox's 2021 season performance earned him consensus All-ACC Second Team honors by the ACC Media and Coaches’, the AP, Phil Steele, Athlon Sports, and Lindy's Sports.

College statistics

*Fox missed the entire 2019 season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Professional career

BC Lions

On May 21, 2022, Fox signed with 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). On June 4, 2023, Fox was released by the Lions.

Personal life

Fox was born to George and Cheryl Fox, in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629. In 2019, the ...

, where he was raised along with his little brother, Jackson, and sister, Gabriella. Jackson, who is

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, is a “source of motivation and inspiration” for Fox, including during Fox's trying times resulting from his 2019 Achilles tendon rupture. While at Wake Forest, he created a children's book series, ''Joyful Jamal!'', based on Jackson and that highlights the daily challenges of children with autism. Fox plans to one day found a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, the mission of which will include assisting families with autistic children. In 2015, as a freshman at Old Dominion, he was named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll for his academic achievements. In 2018, he graduated from Old Dominion with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and minor in Sports Management. After enrolling at Wake Forest in January 2019, he earned his Liberal Arts Studies

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

after the Fall semester of 2020. He was named to the 2021 All-ACC Academic Team. In the summer of 2019, while rehabbing his Achilles injury, he returned home to Lawrenceville, where he dedicated 20 hours each week to serving underprivileged youth at a local church as well as his former and other local high schools. In 2021, Fox appeared as a guest interviewee on the ''Movin’ The Sticks with Mason Shand and Cody Downham'' podcast and the ''Pypeline ACC Podcast''. The mother of his Wake Forest teammate, Peyton Woulard, was Fox's seventh grade teacher. Fox and Woulard were also high school teammates at Collins Hill as a high school senior and freshman, respectively.

References

External links

Old Dominion Monarchs bio

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Miles Living people Old Dominion Monarchs football players Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Sportspeople from Lawrenceville, Georgia Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia American football defensive tackles 1997 births