Jacob Dearborn (born June 15, 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 ...

who is a free agent. He is also an Olympic

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsle ...

and represented

Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics Canada competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. Canada has competed in all 24 editions of the Winter Olympics. On November 17, 2020, two-time Olympic gold medallist in speed skating Catri ...

Amateur career

Following high school graduation, Dearborn attended

Holland College Holland College is the provincial community college for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (PEI). It is named after the British Army engineer and surveyor Captain Samuel Holland. In 2024, about 30% of the college's enrolled student ...

for the school's electrician program. While studying there, he played at

, punter, and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

for the Holland Hurricanes in the

Atlantic Football League The Atlantic Football League (AFL) is an amateur club-level Canadian football league that features four teams based in Atlantic Canada. The league is for players aged 18–24 that either attend universities without U Sports football programs or ...

(AFL) from 2013 to 2015 where he was a member of three straight Moosehead Cup championships. He was named an AFL All-Star in 2015 and graduated from the Industrial Electrical Technology program that year. In 2016, Dearborn enrolled at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, where he played for the

Ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * B ...

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 three years. With the Ravens, he played in 23 games where he recorded 50.5 defensive tackles, seven interceptions, eight pass breakups, and one fumble recovery.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Dearborn first participated in a CFL Regional Combine in Montreal in 2016, where he would have had the opportunity to sign with a

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 ...

team as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. After going unsigned, he played in

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

for three years. He was draft-eligible in 2019 and again participated in the CFL's Montreal Regional Combine, where he set an all-time combine record with a broad jump of 11'1" and set an Eastern Regional Combine record for defensive backs with a vertical jump of 41 inches. He was then invited to the 2019 National Combine, where he led all participants with a 42-inch vertical jump. However, Dearborn was not selected in the 2019 CFL Draft.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

As an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

, Dearborn signed with 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 ...

on May 10, 2019. He played in the team's first preseason game against 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 ...

, but suffered a calf injury which led to his eventual release on June 8, 2019. Upon his recovery, he was re-signed by the Roughriders on July 14, 2019, to a practice roster agreement. Soon after, he played in his first professional football game on July 20, 2019, 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 (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. In his rookie season, Dearborn played mostly on special teams where he recorded four special teams tackles in 14 regular season games played. He also played in the team's lone post-season game, which was a West Final loss to 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 ...

. Dearborn 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 ...

. He made the team's active roster following

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 ...

training camp and recorded his first career defensive tackle in the opening game on August 6, 2021, against the BC Lions. After the second game of the season, he was placed on the disabled list with a non-football injury and sat out the next five games. He returned to the active roster in week nine but was then moved to the practice roster in the following week. After being promoted to the active roster for the next game against the

, Dearborn had a career-high six defensive tackles and recorded his first career interception as the Roughriders won 20–17. He finished the season having played in eight regular season games with 18 defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, and two interceptions. He played in the Roughriders' West Semi-Final win against the Stampeders but was on the injured list for the team's West Final loss to the Blue Bombers. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On October 24, 2023, it was announced that Dearborn had signed a practice roster agreement with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on October 27, 2023. He became a free agent after the season.

Bobsledding

With his football career undecided in 2019, Dearborn was first introduced to the sport of

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

. With the

cancelled, he was able to focus on training for bobsleigh in an effort to make the national team. On January 20, 2022, Dearborn was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team. The team finished in 23rd place.

Personal life

Dearborn was born in Yarker,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to parents Ken Dearborn and Liz Shibley. He has one older brother, CFL Free Agent Chris Shibley and three older sisters; Lauren Dearborn, Elizabeth Dearborn and Julie O’Neil.

References

External links

Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearborn, Jacob 1994 births Living people Atlantic Football League players Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from Ontario Carleton Ravens football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players People from Lennox and Addington County Bobsledders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Canada Hamilton Tiger-Cats players