Ronald Irving Yell (born April 15, 1991) is an American football

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who is currently a free agent. The last team he played for was 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 ...

. Yell played college football at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

and began his professional football career in 2013 with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He then joined 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 ...

late in the 2013 season.

Early life

Yell was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His grandfather Bobo Henderson was a

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

player. After transferring from Crawford High, Yell graduated from Lincoln High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in 2009. At Lincoln, Yell was a

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 ...

on the football team; he played on the basketball and track and field teams as well. Yell also was the activities commissioner for two years on the Lincoln High student body.

College career

left, 150px, Yell before a game in 2012 at San Jose State Spartan Stadium. Yell attended

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and played for the Spartans football team as a

, in 2009 under coach

Dick Tomey Richard Hastings Tomey (June 20, 1938 – May 10, 2019) was an American football coach and player. Tomey served as the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1977–1986), University of Arizona (1987–2000), and San Jose State ...

and from 2010 to 2012 under

Mike MacIntyre George Michael MacIntyre (born March 14, 1965) is an American football coach. He is the head coach at FIU Panthers football, FIU. MacIntyre served as the head football coach at San Jose State University from 2010 to 2013 and the University of C ...

. As a freshman, Yell played 10 games and started at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

in the last six games of 2009 and had 19 tackles and a

pass deflected In American football, a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with ...

. Yell also became the punt return specialist late in 2009. San Jose State finished the 2009 season 2–10. In 2010, his sophomore year, Yell played all 13 games and started 10. He had 44 tackles (3 for loss), 11 passes deflected, and one interception. He returned one punt for six yards and 32 kickoffs for 645 yards (an average 20.2 yards per return). In Mike MacIntyre's first year as head coach, San Jose State went 1–12 this season. For his junior year in 2011, Yell played the final 10 games of the year and started 6. Yell had 37 tackles (1.5 for loss), an interception, 5 tackles, a pass deflected, and 3 punt returns for 42 yards (14 yards per carry). In San Jose State's 38–31 win over

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

on October 1, Yell intercepted a Colorado State pass in Colorado State's final possession to seal San Jose State's first road win in 13 games. San Jose State improved to 5–7 in 2011. As a senior in 2012, Yell played all 13 games and had 41 tackles, 9 passes deflected, and 15 punt returns for 42 yards (2.8 yards average). San Jose State finished the season 11–2, including a victory over

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

in the

2012 Military Bowl The 2012 Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 27, 2012, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. The fifth edition of the Military Bowl began at 3:00&n ...

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Yell broke up 3 passes in that game. Yell graduated from San Jose State in 2013 with a B.A. in sociology.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Following the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

, Yell signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2013. Yell played in two preseason games and had one tackle. The Cardinals cut Yell on August 25.

BC Lions

On October 7, 2013, during the team's practice roster expansion period, the

CFL 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 ...

team

signed Yell, who would remain on the practice roster through the end of the season. In his preseason debut with the Lions on June 14 against the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, Yell forced a fumble recovered by teammate

Alex Hoffman-Ellis Alex Hoffman-Ellis (born August 14, 1989) is a former American professional Canadian football linebacker. After playing college football for the Washington State Cougars, he was signed in 2012 by the St. Louis Rams of the National Football Leagu ...

, and this play set up BC's winning field goal in a 14–11 win. Yell also had two tackles and an interception. On August 1, Yell made his first regular season CFL interception in BC's 25–24 win over the previously undefeated

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

and returned it 34 yards for BC's first score of the game. With 51 seconds left and BC leading, Yell forced a Calgary fumble, and BC ran out the clock to 4 seconds remaining. BC won after Calgary's final play was an incomplete pass.

Toronto Argonauts

Yell became 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 ...

in 2018 and subsequently signed with the

on February 17, 2018, then Yell was released in 2019. Argos add veteran DB Ronnie Yell to secondary
/ref>

References

External links

BC Lions profile

San Jose State profile (archived from 2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yell, Ronnie 1991 births Living people American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Arizona Cardinals players BC Lions players Sportspeople from Surrey, British Columbia Players of American football from Los Angeles San Jose State Spartans football players Players of American football from San Diego Players of Canadian football from San Diego Toronto Argonauts players Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles