Kenneth James Lawler, Jr. (born June 25, 1994) 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 ...

for 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 ...

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 was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the seventh round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

after playing

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 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Early life

Lawler attended Upland High School in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

. He had 53 receptions for 1,267 yards and 12

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a senior and 42 receptions for 887 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. Lawler was rated by Rivals.com as four-star recruit and committed to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

to play

College career

Lawler

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first year at California in 2012 after he was ineligible the first six weeks while

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

looked into some independent-study classes he had taken. He considered transferring in the offseason due to the firing of head coach

Jeff Tedford Jeffrey Raye Tedford (born November 2, 1961) is an American football coach and former player. From 2002 to 2012, Tedford was the head football coach for the California Golden Bears, where he was twice named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and holds ...

, but chose to stay at California after meeting with the newly hired head coach

Sonny Dykes Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...

. In 2013, he played in 11 games with five starts and had 37 receptions for 347 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore, he again played in 11 games with five starts and led the team with 54 receptions for 701 yards and nine touchdowns. As a junior, Lawler had 52 receptions for 658 yards and 13 touchdowns over 13 games. After his junior season, Lawler entered the

Professional career

Pre-draft

Prior to the

, Lawler had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. Lawler slid in part due to his leaner frame and his slower

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

time.

Seattle Seahawks

On April 30, 2016, the

selected Lawler with a seventh round pick, 243rd overall in the

. On May 6, 2016, the Seahawks announced that they had signed Lawler to his rookie contract. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Seahawks as part of final roster cuts and was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Seahawks on January 16, 2017. On September 2, 2017, Lawler was waived by the Seahawks and was later signed to their practice squad. He was released by the team on September 13, 2017.

BC Lions

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

(CFL) announced on May 9, 2018, they had signed Lawler to a contract, along with four other

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (first stint)

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 ...

of the CFL signed Lawler to their practice roster on October 22, 2018. Lawler became a regular contributor for the Blue Bombers during the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, with his breakout game coming in a loss against Hamilton, where he caught 10 passes for 144 yards. As the leading receiver on the team in yards, Lawler helped the Bombers to their first

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

win in 29 years, when they won the

107th Grey Cup The 107th Grey Cup decided the champion of the 2019 season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The match was played on November 24, 2019, between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Win ...

at the end of the 2019 season. After the CFL canceled the 2020 season 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 ...

, Lawler chose to opt-out of his contract with the Blue Bombers on August 27, 2020. He signed a one-year contract extension with Winnipeg on February 3, 2021. Midway through the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, on October 4, 2021, it was revealed that Lawler had been arrested for impaired driving and was suspended for the team's Week 10 match. Despite the struggles in his personal life, Lawler went on to lead the CFL in receiving with 1,014 yards and six touchdowns. As a result, Lawler was named both a CFL West All-Star and CFL All-Star for the first time. The Bombers finished the year with the best regular season record. Winnipeg defeated Saskatchewan to go to

108th Grey Cup The 108th Grey Cup decided the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2021 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled and the start of the 2021 season was delayed, pushing the game to December 12, 2021. The ...

, their second consecutive championship game. They won in overtime to win their second Grey Cup in a row. Lawler added 90 yards receiving in the postseason to help the Blue Bombers to their second title.

Edmonton Elks

Lawler signed with 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 ...

of the CFL to a one-year contract to open free agency on February 8, 2022, and became the highest paid receiver in the CFL. In late August 2022 Lawler suffered an ankle injury. At the time of the injury he was tied for second place in both receptions (56) and receiving yards (849). He returned to action on October 1 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 ...

. However, a couple days later it was reported that Lawler had suffered a shoulder/collarbone injury and underwent season ending surgery. He finished the season with 58 receptions for 894 yards and five touchdowns. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (second stint)

On the first day of free agency, on February 14, 2023, it was announced that Lawler had signed a two-year contract with the Blue Bombers. Lawler was transferred to the team's suspended list in advance of the 2023 season as he was facing passport challenges related to his impaired driving charge in October 2021. Lawler returned to the Bombers starting lineup in Week 7, having missed the first six games of the season. He played in 12 regular season games where he had 50 catches for 901 yards and six touchdowns. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Lawler was injured in the first game of the season after recording three receptions for 26 yards in the

rematch against the

. He returned in week 11 and played in the rest of the regular season, totalling 10 games with 41 catches for 662 yards and four touchdowns. Lawler started in both post-season games, including the

111th Grey Cup The 111th Grey Cup was played to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the 2024 CFL season, 2024 season. The game was played on November 17, 2024, at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Toronto Argonauts defea ...

where he had two receptions for 27 yards in the Blue Bombers' 41–24 loss to 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 ...

. Unable to come to terms on a new contract, Lawler became 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 ...

on February 11, 2025.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On February 12, 2025, it was announced that Lawler had signed with the

to a two-year contract.

CFL career statistics

Personal life

Lawler Jr. recently had a son, Kenneth James Lawler II. Lawler's siblings; Perri, Sydney and Kenzel. Younger brother was a Junior at Roosevelt High School, QB on Varsity. Lawler's mother, Patricia Hicks works in the medical field. His father is Kenneth Lawler Sr. and he played college football as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, he would later become a coach at Mt. Sac Junior College, then at

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

and currently at San Bernardino Valley College. With his wife, Mary, they have six children combined.

References

External links

Hamilton Tiger-Cats bioCalifornia Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawler, Kenny 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Pomona, California American football wide receivers California Golden Bears football players Seattle Seahawks players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from California Upland High School alumni BC Lions players Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players