Denzel Radford (born May 28, 1994) is a Canadian 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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played 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 ...

(CFL). He played

U Sports 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 athleti ...

for the Calgary Dinos as a receiver, defensive back, 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 ...

from 2013 to 2016.

Professional career

Montreal Alouettes

Radford was drafted 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 ...

in the sixth round, 48th overall, in the 2017 CFL Draft as a

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 ...

and signed with the club on May 17, 2017. He participated in the team's 2017 training camp, and was converted to a

, but did not play in any pre-season games.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On June 7, 2017, the Alouettes traded Radford to 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 in 19 ...

in exchange for

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

, Matt Vonk. He made his professional debut on June 22, 2017, against his former team, the Alouettes. He played in all 18 regular season games and recorded two defensive tackles and 24 special teams tackles, finishing fourth in the CFL in special teams tackles in 2017. The following two seasons saw Radford beset by injuries. In the 2018 season opener, he endured a torn labrum injury and was on the injured list for the remainder of the year. 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 played in the first four games of the season, but suffered a knee injury and did not play until the last two regular season games of the season. He also played in the West Final 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 ...

. He completed his three-year rookie contract, having played in 25 regular season games, tallying two defensive tackles and 28 special teams tackles.

Toronto Argonauts

Upon entering free agency, he signed 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 ...

on February 12, 2020. The 2020 CFL season was later cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Personal life

Radford was born to parents Jennifer Radford and Don Bruno, who named him after American actor,

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

. He also has a brother, Don Bruno Jr. He has completed two undergraduate degrees from the University of Calgary in Finance and Economics.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Denzel 1994 births Living people Montreal Alouettes players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players Calgary Dinos football players Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from Alberta Canadian football people from Calgary