Ishmael Hyman (born August 23, 1995) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

. He 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 ...

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

Early life

Hyman grew up

Manalapan, New Jersey Manalapan Township (, ) is a township in western Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan Valley Region and is a part of the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States cen ...

, and attended St. John Vianney High School, where he played football and ran track. As a senior, he had 24 receptions for 428 yards and four touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury and finished fourth in the state in the 200-meter dash. Rated a three-star recruit, Hyman committed to play college football at Kansas over offers from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

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, and Villanova.

College career

Hyman began his collegiate career at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, redshirting his true first year before deciding to transfer to

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

at the end of the season. In four seasons with the Dukes, Hyman caught 72 passes for 1,061 yards and 11 touchdowns and was a member of the 2016 team that won the FCS National Championship.

Professional career

Orlando Apollos

After going unselected in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

and going unsigned as an undrafted free agent, Hyman was signed by the

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectr ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

. Hyman caught four passes for 60 yards with Orlando before the AAF ceased operations. Ishmael Hyman

Cleveland Browns

Hyman was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on April 25, 2019. Hyman was waived by the Browns during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hyman was signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

' practice squad on September 24, 2019. He was released but was re-signed on October 16, 2019. The Buccaneers promoted Hyman to the active roster on December 10, 2019. He made his NFL debut on December 15, 2019, against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, catching one pass for three yards in a 38–17 win. He was waived on December 24, 2019, and re-signed to the practice squad. Hyman finished the season with two receptions on four targets for 34 yards in two games played.

Carolina Panthers

On January 2, 2020, Hyman signed a reserve/future contract with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was placed on the practice squad/injured list on November 28. He was placed on the practice squad/

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list by the team on December 7, 2020, and moved back to the practice squad/injured list on December 22. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on January 4, 2021. He was waived on August 28, 2021.

Michigan Panthers (first stint)

Hyman signed with the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) on May 10, 2022, and was transferred to the team's inactive roster two days later.

Green Bay Packers

On July 28, 2022, Hyman signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. He was waived/injured on August 30, 2022, and placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 9.

Michigan Panthers (second stint)

On January 19, 2023, Hyman signed with the Panthers for his second stint with the team. He was waived in May 2023.

Pittsburgh Maulers

Hyman was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Maulers on May 25, 2023. The Maulers folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

Calgary Stampeders

On January 24, 2024, Hyman 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 ...

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 made the Stampeder practice roster in 2024 and managed to dress for 5 games. Hyman was released on May 27, 2025, during training camp.

References

External links

Calgary Stampeders bioGreen Bay Packers bioJames Madison Dukes bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyman, Ishmael 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Manalapan Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Monmouth County, New Jersey St. John Vianney High School (New Jersey) alumni American football wide receivers Kansas Jayhawks football players James Madison Dukes football players Orlando Apollos players Cleveland Browns players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Carolina Panthers players Michigan Panthers (2022) players Green Bay Packers players Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) players Calgary Stampeders players Players of Canadian football from New Jersey Canadian football wide receivers