Lucas Steele Tasker (born January 18, 1991) is a former

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

wide receiver and sports broadcaster. He spent the entirety of his seven-season

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

career 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 of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. Tasker played college football at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

, and is the son of 7-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er and former CBS Sports color analyst

Steve Tasker Steven Jay Tasker (born April 10, 1962) is an American sports reporter, locally in Western New York on the MSG Western New York cable TV station, and on WGR Radio and formerly for CBS Sports. He is a former football player who was a wide rece ...

Early years

Tasker attended St. Francis High School in

Athol Springs, New York Athol Springs is a hamlet in the town of Hamburg in Erie County, New York, United States. Notable people The family of feminist activist Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn owned property in Athol Springs. Athol Springs is the birthplace of retire ...

. Tasker was named first-team all-state in his senior season as a defensive back. He was a team captain for his junior and senior seasons at high school. Tasker also was selected as academic player of the year and was a member of the Western New York all-academic team as a defensive back during his senior season in high school.

College career

Tasker played college football at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, and majored in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He was an honorable mention all-Ivy pick during his junior season. On September 15, 2012, In the season-opening loss against Fordham in which he recorded 10 receptions along with 177 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In the next game against

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in which he had a team leading 10 receptions and a team leading 138 receiving yards along with two receiving touchdowns. On October 16, 2012, he was named the Ivy League co-offensive player of the week along with

Quarterback Chris Amrhein for his outstanding performance against

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

in which he had 11 receptions, a school-record 280 receiving yards along with one receiving touchdown. During his senior season, on October 27, 2012 in a regular-season game against

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

in which he had 10 receptions for 201 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns as

beat the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in men ...

37-35. On November 20, 2012, he was selected to the Ivy league team during his senior season. He finished college with 171 receptions, 2,482 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

On April 27, 2013, Tasker signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. However, Tasker did not make the team and was cut on August 30.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Tasker signed to the practice roster with the

of the

(CFL) on September 17, 2013. Tasker was reunited with

Kent Austin Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces th ...

(the head coach of the Tiger-Cats), who had been his head coach at Cornell University. He was moved to the active roster and made his CFL debut on September 28, 2013 against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

. He caught his first career touchdown in a 33–19 win over the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

on October 4, 2013. Tasker only appeared in 5 games for the Ti-Cats during his rookie season, finishing the year with 202 receiving yards on 13 catches with 1 touchdown. His second season in the CFL, the

2014 CFL season Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unre ...

, was a breakout year for Luke Tasker. He led the team in receptions (72), receiving yards (937) and was tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns (5) along with

Brandon Banks Brandon Desean Banks (born December 21, 1987) is an American Canadian football wide receiver and return specialist who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He wa ...

. Tasker was recognized for his successful season when he was named a CFL East All-Star for the 2014 season. Following the 2014 season Tasker passed up on an offer from 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

of the

NFL 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 maj ...

and the agreed to a contract extension with the Ti-Cats. Tasker continued his exceptional play in the next three seasons, highlighted by his 2017 campaign in which he set career highs in receptions (104) yards (1,167) and touchdowns (7). One day before the start of free agency the Ti-Cats and Tasker agreed to a two-year contract extension on February 12, 2018. Tasker ended the 2018 as one of the few healthy Hamilton receivers;

Terrence Toliver Terrence Lee Toliver (born May 7, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. In 2011, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Texans and later played for the Detroit Lions that year. He played college football for the ...

, Chris Williams, and Jalen Saunders all finished the year with season ending injuries. Tasker however amassed 1104 yards and a career high 11 touchdowns on 78 catches, and was named to the 2018 CFL All-Star Team. Tasker missed about half the season in 2019 with a broken finger and a hamstring injury, limiting him to only 406 receiving yards on 36 receptions. Tasker was not re-signed by the Ti-Cats following the 2019 season and became a free agent on February 11, 2020.

Personal life

His father is

, who was a wide receiver and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player in 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 ...

for 13 seasons mostly with the Buffalo Bills. Luke married Jenna Fishback on May 17, 2014. The couple met during kindergarten in their hometown of East Aurora, New York.

Broadcast career

On March 11, 2014, Tasker joined the staff of

WBBZ-TV WBBZ-TV (channel 67) is an independent television station licensed to Springville, New York, United States, serving the Buffalo area. It is owned by ITV of Buffalo, a company controlled by former news photographer Philip A. Arno. WBBZ-TV's stu ...

as a sports reporter; as Buffalo and Hamilton were separated by less than 50 miles, he was able to continue his career with the Tiger-Cats while working for WBBZ. He served in that capacity before WBBZ discontinued sports coverage in 2015. On August 3, 2021, Tasker was named the new color commentator for the Tiger-Cats' radio broadcasts on The Ticats Audio Network.TIGER-CATS LAUNCH ‘TICATS AUDIO NETWORK’, DELIVERING LIVE GAME BROADCASTS & ON-DEMAND CONTENT TO FANS
Press release, retrieved August 3, 2021.

References

External links

Cornell Big Red bioSan Diego Chargers bioHamilton Tiger-Cats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasker, Luke 1991 births Living people American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Cornell Big Red football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players People from East Aurora, New York People from Hamburg, New York Players of American football from New York (state) Sportspeople from Erie County, New York