Bashir A. Levingston ( ; born October 2, 1976) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL).

College career

After transferring from Monterey Peninsula College, Levingston played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Eastern Washington University, where, as a senior, he earned seven

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n honors as a

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He was also named first-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

as a kick returner. He scored 12

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

and totaled 1,597 all-purpose yards during his senior year at Eastern Washington. Livingston also is the leader for Division I-AA and is fifth on the all-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

list in punt returns averaging 20.8 yards. He broke or tied seven I-AA records including kickoff returns for a touchdown in a game (three) and season (three), kickoff return yards in a game (326), average kickoff returns in a game (65.2), yards in kickoffs and punt returns in game (349) and touchdowns on kickoffs and punt returns in a single game (three) and season (six).

Professional career

NFL and NFL Europa

Levingston was originally signed by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and spent two years on the team. Eventually, he was released from the team and allocated to

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

with the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

in 2000, where he earned All-NFL Europa honors for his contributions on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

CFL

After being cut by 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 Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

during their

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

training camp, Levingston caught on with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. Since being signed in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, Levingston has developed into one of the CFL's best kick returners, earning CFL Special Teams Player of the Week honors ten times in his career to go along with earning East Division All-Star honors in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Levingston was named the CFL's Outstanding Special Teams Player and the East Division Special Teams Player of the Year in

as well. In

, Levingston also won a Grey Cup championship with the Toronto Argonauts. On June 28, 2007, in a game against the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, Levingston broke a CFL record when he returned a missed

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

by Paul McCallum for a 129-yard touchdown. That record has since been tied by his then teammate Dominique Dorsey on August 2, 2007. On August 30, 2007, Levingston was released by the Argonauts. On November 4, 2007, Levingston was signed by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levingston, Bashir 1976 births Living people American football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from California Amsterdam Admirals players Canadian football defensive backs Canadian football return specialists Eastern Washington Eagles football players Montreal Alouettes players New York Giants players Players of American football from Inglewood, California Toronto Argonauts players Players of American football from Monterey County, California People from Seaside, California Miami Dolphins players American football return specialists