Jimmy Ralph (born October 16, 1992) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He began his professional career 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 ...

in 2017 where he won his first

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

as a member of the

105th Grey Cup The 105th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 2017, between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. In a re-match of the 100th Grey Cup, the Argonauts won the game 27–24, winning their 17th cham ...

championship team.

Amateur career

Ralph played for the

Calgary Colts The Calgary Colts are a Canadian Junior Football team based in Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 ...

of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to professional footbal ...

in 2012 before enrolling at

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

to play for the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for the 2013 season and, following a coaching overhaul the following year, elected to transfer to the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

to play for the Golden Bears for the 2014 season. He was a member of the Golden Bears from 2014 to 2016, but sat out the 2016 season due to injury.

Professional career

Toronto Argonauts

After not being selected in the 2017 CFL Draft, Ralph was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

with the

on May 17, 2017. After an impressive showing in the pre-season, Ralph made the team's roster. He dressed in his first game with the Argonauts on June 25, 2017 and had his first career reception in his first career start on July 13, 2017 against the

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 (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

on a nine-yard pass from

Ricky Ray Ricky Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. Ray spent the majority of his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

. He recorded 26 receptions for 278 yards in 16 regular season games in 2017. He played in the

game and earned his first

championship as a member of the Argonauts' winning team. In his second season with the Argonauts, Ralph began the season as the starting slot receiver due to an injury to teammate Anthony Coombs. After failing to provide much of an impact through the first few games, and the team struggling with the loss of starting quarterback Ricky Ray, the Argonauts coaching staff moved Ralph from the starting lineup into a reserve role, and eventually onto the practice roster. Ralph ended the 2018 season with eight receptions for 70 yards. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, he earned a spot in the starting lineup following training camp for the first game of the season. He scored his first career CFL touchdown on August 25, 2019 on a six-yard pass from

McLeod Bethel-Thompson McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson (born July 3, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was a member of the Toronto Argonauts, winning two Grey Cup champions ...

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

for the

Touchdown Atlantic Touchdown Atlantic ( French: ''Touché Atlantique'') is a series of neutral site Canadian Football League games played in the Maritime provinces of Canada. In 2003, the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tent ...

game. He finished the 2019 with a career-high 38 receptions for 355 yards and one touchdown in 18 regular season games. As a pending free agent in 2020, he was released during the free agency negotiation window on February 7, 2020.

Edmonton Eskimos / Football Team / Elks

As a free agent, Ralph signed with 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 ...

on February 13, 2020, but did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

. He re-signed with the since re-named

Edmonton Elks 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 (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

on a contract extension through 2021 on December 26, 2020. He retired from football on June 30, 2021.

Personal life

Ralph was born in

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, to parents Jim and Shelly Ralph. He has three older brothers who also played football at a high level, at the same position of

. The eldest brother, Dustin, 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 ...

for the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

and

Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 101 national championships, including 84 in U Sports sanctioned sports, ma ...

and was Jimmy's head coach in high school. Brock also played for Wyoming before playing professionally for nine years in the

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 ...

for three teams, winning two

championships. Brett played collegiately for Alberta and played for five seasons with the

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

where he was a member of the

96th Grey Cup The 96th Grey Cup was held in Montreal, Quebec at Olympic Stadium on November 23, 2008. The East Division champion Montreal Alouettes hosted the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders won the game 22–14, with quarterback Hen ...

championship team.

References

External links

Edmonton Elks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralph, Jimmy 1992 births Living people Canadian football wide receivers Canadian Junior Football League players Alberta Golden Bears football players People from Raymond, Alberta Toronto Argonauts players Weber State Wildcats football players Players of Canadian football from Alberta American football wide receivers Edmonton Elks players