Hakeem Johnson (born June 14, 1994) 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 ...

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 ...

. He previously played 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).

Junior career

Following his high school playing career, Johnson played in 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 ...

for the London Beefeaters from 2014 to 2015.

University career

Johnson 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

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent University of Western Ontario, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 Varsity team, varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. a ...

from 2016 to 2018. He was part of the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

championship team where he was named an OUA second-team all-star that year. However, he suffered an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in the 2017

Yates Cup The Yates Cup () is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of U Sports. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassi ...

victory over the

Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, commonly shortened to Laurier Golden Hawks, is the name used by the varsity sports teams of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario Universit ...

, which kept him sidelined for the entire 2018 season. With the Mustangs, he played in 16 games where he had 22 tackles and three interceptions.

Professional career

BC Lions

Johnson was drafted in the fourth round, 33rd overall, by the

in the 2019 CFL Draft and signed with the team on May 16, 2019. Following the team's training camp 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 was assigned to the practice roster. He then made his professional debut on September 6, 2019, against 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 ...

. He played in eight regular season games in 2019 where he had three defensive tackles and one special teams tackle. 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 ...

, Johnson did not play in 2020. He made the team's opening day roster 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 ...

and played in all 14 regular season games. He made his first professional start on October 23, 2021, 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 ...

where he had two tackles on defence. In the final game of the season, on November 19, 2021, he recorded his first career interception in a game against 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 ...

when he picked off

Dakota Prukop Dakota Prukop (born October 17, 1993) is an American former professional football quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for Montana State from ...

. In the 14 games that he played, he started in three, and recorded 12 defensive tackles, four special teams tackles, and one interception. Johnson again made the team's active roster following training camp 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 ...

and dressed as a backup defensive back. He played in 16 regular season games where he recorded three defensive tackles and four special teams tackles.

Edmonton Elks

Johnson joined the

in free agency on February 17, 2023. However, he was released after the second preseason game on May 28, 2023.

Personal life

Johnson's brother,

Shaq Johnson Shaquille Johnson (born May 2, 1993) is a Canadian professional Canadian football, football wide receiver. He has played for the BC Lions and Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). University and junior football Johnson began his ...

, also plays professional football, but 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 ...

. The two brothers played together for the Lions from 2019 to 2021 and were the fifth set of brothers to play for the Lions, but the first to play on opposite sides of the ball.

References

External links

Edmonton Elks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Hakeem 1994 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian football defensive backs Canadian Junior Football League players Players of Canadian football from Brampton Western Mustangs football players Edmonton Elks players