Nelkas Kwemo (born May 5, 1995) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was most recently a member of 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 ...

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 played

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

with the

Queen's Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the Athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Team colours are blue, red, and gold. The main athletics facilities include Richardson M ...

from 2014 to 2017.

Professional career

Kwemo was drafted 18th overall in the

2018 CFL Draft The 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018, at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS... Sixty-nine players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in ...

by the

after he was ranked as the 17th best prospect in the December 2017 Scouting Bureau Rankings, but un-ranked in the Final April report. He signed with the team on May 19, 2018. Kwemo was injured to begin the 2018 season, but made his debut on August 18, 2018. He played in 11 regular season games, recording three defensive tackles and 15 special teams tackles, earning praise on special teams alongside fellow 2018 draft pick and core special teamer Sean Harrington. The Argonauts' 2019 was just as disappointing as 2018 with a 4-14 record, but Kwemo developed into a rotational linebacker with 13 tackles on defense, and he continued his special teams excellence with 16 more tackles. Kwemo signed a contract extension with the Argonauts on December 28, 2020. He was placed on the suspended list on July 10, 2021. He sat out the entire season and became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

Personal life

Kwemo was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

at an early age.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwemo, Nelkas 1995 births Living people Canadian football linebackers French players of Canadian football French emigrants to Canada Queen's Golden Gaels football players Sportspeople from Paris Toronto Argonauts players