Adam Konar (born October 10, 1993) is a Canadian 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for 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 ...

of 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 ...

(CFL). He was originally drafted 25th overall in the 2015 CFL Draft 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 ...

and played for six non-consecutive seasons with the team. He played

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athlet ...

for the Calgary Dinos.

Early life

Konar played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the Fighting Irish of

Vancouver College Vancouver College (abbreviated informally to VC) is an independent K-12 university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent ...

as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and linebacker. In 2009, Konar suffered a broken fibula and missed post-season games. He was named MVP of the 2010 Subway Bowl with three

touchdown 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 ...

s on offence and two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s on defence.

University career

In 2011, Konar 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 ...

as a linebacker for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds. He earned the program's rookie of the year award. Due to poor grades, Konar was forced to leave UBC before the 2012 season and take classes at

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshi ...

. Instead of playing college football in 2012, he joined the Langley Rams 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 ...

. Konar recorded 16 solo tackles, five sacks, three interceptions, and four fumble recoveries in his one season with the Rams, earning himself the B.C. Football Conference's Outstanding Defensive Player award. While Konar originally intended to return to UBC after a year with the Rams, he instead decided to transfer to the University of Calgary and play for the Calgary Dinos. Konar cited strong academic support as one reason he transferred to Calgary. He missed the entire 2013 season due to a torn ACL injury suffered on the first day of training camp. In 2014, Konar was named a first team All-Canadian after achieving 34 solo tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble. He recorded a team-high eight tackles in the Dinos' playoff loss against the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays at Princess Auto Stadium, the soccer team plays at the outdoor soccer field on campus, track and field te ...

Professional career

Edmonton Eskimos

Konar was listed by the CFL Scouting Bureau as the 16th ranked draft prospect in December 2014, but did not appear on the final rankings. He was invited to the national CFL Combine in early 2015. Konar was selected in the third round of the 2015 CFL Draft by the Edmonton Eskimos with the 25th overall pick. After making the active roster out of training camp, Konar debuted in the season opener against 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 ...

on June 27, 2015. He would go on to win the

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 ...

with the Eskimos in his rookie season. He played in 34 games with the Eskimos over four years and was released on the eve of 2019 training camp on May 18, 2019.

BC Lions (first stint)

Shortly after his release from the Eskimos, Konar signed with his hometown

on May 20, 2019. He played in 17 regular season games where he had six defensive tackles and eight special teams tackles. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Konar played in all 14 games of a truncated season where he had six defensive tackles, 13 special teams tackles, and one sack. He signed a contract extension with the Lions on February 3, 2021.

Edmonton Elks

Konar returned to the

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 ...

in free agency on February 8, 2022. He played in all 18 games in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

where he had 52 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, two sacks, one interception, and two forced fumbles. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, he again played in 18 regular season games and recorded a career-high 73 defensive tackles and one special teams tackle. On January 9, 2024, Konar was released by the Elks.

Calgary Stampeders

On January 22, 2024, it was announced that Konar had signed 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 ...

. He became a

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 ...

upon the expiry of his contract on February 11, 2025.

BC Lions (second stint)

On February 11, 2025, it was announced that Konar had signed again with the

Personal life

Adam Konar is the son of Kevin Konar, former linebacker and

champion for the

. Konar is also the cousin of Jamie Boreham, a retired CFL kicker.

References

External links

BC Lions bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konar, Adam 1993 births Living people BC Lions players Calgary Dinos football players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football linebackers Canadian Junior Football League players Edmonton Elks players Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Canadian football people from Vancouver UBC Thunderbirds football players Vancouver College alumni