Tigie Sankoh (born November 4, 1996) is a

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

an professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a 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 scoring area ( ...

defensive back for 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).

Early life and education

Sankoh was born on November 4, 1996, in

. His parents moved to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

when he was young, and to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

when he was 15. He attended high school in Kennington at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England High School.

Football career

"Missing American football," Sankoh found local teams through Google.com, joining the Kent Exiles in 2014. He moved to the South London Renegades in 2015. Sankoh scored the game-winning touchdown in a win over the

London Warriors The London Warriors are an American football club based in Thornton Heath, London, England, they compete in the BAFA National Leagues Premier Division South, the highest level of British American football. They operate from Selhurst Sports Arena ...

. In 2017, he was noticed by NFLUK head of football development Aden Durde who helped him join the London Warriors in England's top football division. He later got an invitation to go to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and train at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

in 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 ...

(NFL)'s

International Player Pathway Program The International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of non-Americans, American and Canadians, Canadian players in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strateg ...

. He was assigned to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

on May 14, 2018. Sankoh was given an international roster exemption at the start of the season, and did not see any playing time. He was given a second exemption in , but was later released. In 2021, he was signed by the Ingolstadt Praetorians. He left the team a month later after being selected with the third overall pick in the

2021 CFL Global Draft The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021 and was the first CFL Draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously having separate drafts for Mexican players and European players in 2019. 36 players were chosen fr ...

by the

. In the CFL season, Sankoh appeared in four games, making one defensive tackle and six special teams tackles. To start the 2022 season, Sankoh was released with the final training camp cuts on June 5, 2022. However, he was re-signed by the team three days later on June 8, 2022.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankoh, Tigie 1996 births Living people American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Cleveland Browns players Sierra Leonean players of American football Sierra Leonean players of Canadian football Toronto Argonauts players