Ryan Lankford (born December 9, 1991) is a

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 ...

wide receiver who is currently 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 played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and signed with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has been a member of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

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 ...

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

, and

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 ...

High school and college

Lankford played wide receiver,

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 ...

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

, punter, and also served as a kickoff and punt returner for

Paxon School for Advanced Studies Paxon School for Advanced Studies (PSAS) is one of four International Baccalaureate senior high schools (the others being Stanton College Preparatory School, Wolfson High School, and Terry Parker High School) in Duval County, Florida. Accordi ...

. He also

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. Lankford then attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

, where he played 43 games and recorded 70 receptions for 1,014 receiving yards. He also played as a punter, averaging 39.4 yards on 19 punts. As a junior in 2012, Lankford led the team in receiving yards (469) and touchdowns (5).

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

After going undrafted in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Lankford signed with the

on May 11, 2014, and was waived four days later.

Indianapolis Colts

On May 18, he signed with the

. He was waived on August 30, and resigned to the practice squad on September 1. On January 19, 2015, he signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts. He was released by the Colts on August 31, 2016.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Lankford signed with the

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 November 7, 2015. He played in one game during their 2015 season. In his second season in the CFL Lankford saw more playing time, playing in 9 games, catching 19 passes for 165 yards. Despite the increased play time he was on, and off the practice roster multiple times during the season, and was ultimately released on October 25, 2016.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On January 24, 2017, Lankford signed with the

(CFL).

Ottawa Redblacks

Lankford signed with the Ottawa Redblacks on February 13, 2019, at the start of free agency. He played in three of the first four games of the season for Ottawa, but made a costly error on a punt return in Week 4 which lead to being dismissed from the team.

BC Lions

On July 15, 2019, it was announced that Lankford had signed with the

Personal

Lankford's father,

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, played

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 ...

for the Miami Dolphins from 1982 to 1991.

References

External links

BC Lions profile

Ryan Lankford profile at Colts.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lankford, Ryan 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida Paxon School for Advanced Studies alumni American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Illinois Fighting Illini football players Miami Dolphins players Indianapolis Colts players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian football return specialists Ottawa Redblacks players BC Lions players