Isaiah Likely (born April 18, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

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). He played college football at

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

Early life and high school

Likely grew up in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

and attended

Malden High School Malden High School is a public high school in Malden, Massachusetts. Established in 1857, the school is part of the Malden Public Schools and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). A 2013 study conducte ...

before transferring to Everett High School for his senior year. As a junior, he caught 59 passes for 917 yards with 11 touchdowns.

College career

As a freshman in the 2018 season, Likely caught 12 passes for 106 yards and five touchdowns in seven games. He was named third-team All-

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams partici ...

after finishing his sophomore season with 32 receptions for 431 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He had six receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown in the 24–21 victory over

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

in the Chanticleers' last game. Likely was named first-team All-Sun Belt and a second-team All-American by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

after catching 30 passes for 601 yards and five touchdowns as a junior. He had three receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown in a 34–23 victory over

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. During his senior year, Likely was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week after catching eight passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns in a 52–20 win over

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Likely tied the NCAA record for longest touchdown reception on his first of the four touchdowns with a 99-yard reception. He repeated as a first-team All-Sun Belt selection after catching 59 passes for 912 yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns. Likely led the Sun Belt in receiving touchdowns in the 2021 season.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Likely was selected by the

in the fourth round, 139th overall, of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

. He caught his first NFL touchdown against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in Week 8 of the 2022 season on

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

. In Week 18, he had eight receptions for 103 receiving yards in the 27–16 loss to the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

. In his rookie season, he appeared in 16 games, of which he started two. He finished with 36 receptions for 373 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bioCoastal Carolina Chanticleers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Likely, Isaiah Living people American football tight ends Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football players Players of American football from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts 2000 births Baltimore Ravens players