Brayden Lenius (born December 19, 1996) is a Canadian professional football wide receiver who is 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 most recently played for the

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 i ...

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 ...

(CFL). He played college football for the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athlet ...

and

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-1 ...

. He has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons of 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 ma ...

(NFL).

High school career

Lenius played for the Carson Graham Eagles in

North Vancouver North Vancouver may refer to: *North Vancouver (city), a city in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (district municipality), a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (electoral district), a federal electoral di ...

. He then moved to the

Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Cou ...

to play for the Chaminade College Eagles for his grade 12 year.

College career

Lenius played college football for the

from 2014 to 2017. He did not play in 2016 and used a redshirt season. He graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and transferred to the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25, ...

to play for the

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known m ...

in 2018.

Professional career

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Heading into the

2019 CFL Draft The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the United States on NCAA or ...

, Lenius was ranked by the CFL Central Scouting Bureau as the 11th best player available in the draft. He was selected in the second round, 15th overall, by the

and signed with the team on May 15, 2019.. He played in his first professional game on July 6, 2019, against the

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

. Three weeks later, he recorded his first catch 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 of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

on July 27, 2021. Overall, he played in 11 regular season games for the Roughriders in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

where he had two receptions for four yards.. He 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 s ...

. In his sophomore season, Lenius made the team's opening day roster and scored his first career professional touchdown on a 12-yard pass from

Cody Fajardo Cody Michael Fajardo () (born March 29, 1992) is an American professional Canadian football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Nevada and was their starting quarterback fro ...

against the

on August 6, 2021. He had celebrated by throwing the ball into the stands, but the family that had caught the ball offered to return the keepsake to him. He finished the season having played in all 14 regular season games and recorded 37 receptions for 471 yards and four touchdowns. He also played in both post-season games where he had six catches for 43 yards. On January 7, 2022, Lenius was released one month prior to his contract expiring in order to pursue

opportunities.

Atlanta Falcons

On January 10, 2022, Lenius signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons of the

. On July 28, 2022, he was waived.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On August 29, 2022, Lenius re-signed with the

. He played in seven games where he had 17 catches for 172 yards and one touchdown. He was limited by injuries in 2023 and played in just one regular season game where he recorded two catches for 12 yards. Lenius was part of final training camp cuts in 2024 and was released on June 1, 2024.

Personal life

Lenius was born in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city population ...

, to parents Shauna Lenius and Troy Dickey. He moved with his mother, Shauna, to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, following the divorce of his parents. Shauna played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for the

Regina Cougars The Regina Cougars are the athletic teams that represent the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Cougars compete in all sports except football; the university's football team is known as the Regina Rams. A number of the ...

. Lenius' father, Troy, played at wide receiver for the Roughriders in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

. Lenius had legally changed his last name to "Dickey" in December 2017. His father died on January 6, 2018, following a stroke he had suffered on December 28, 2017, in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the late 1800s the area that is now Glendale was all deser ...

, where he was staying to watch Lenius play in the

2017 Fiesta Bowl The 2017 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2017, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 47th Fiesta Bowl was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. The gam ...

. Lenius' paternal grandfather,

Eldridge Dickey Eldridge Reno Dickey (December 24, 1945 – May 22, 2000) was an American football player. After playing for Tennessee State University from 1965 to 1968, he was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft. Dicke ...

, played at wide receiver for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

for four years, but played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Tennessee State Tigers The Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Tennessee State University (TSU), located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The Tigers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and ...

. Lenius' maternal grandparents were season-ticket holders for the Roughriders for many years, but his grandfather, Jim Lenius, died five days before Brayden was selected in the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenius, Brayden 1996 births Living people American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons players Canadian football wide receivers New Mexico Lobos football players Players of Canadian football from Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Washington Huskies football players