Mario Alford (born February 25, 1992) 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 ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for 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 ...

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 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 ...

for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 2014.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Alford was selected by 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the seventh round, 238th overall, in the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

. He played in one game his rookie year with the Bengals registering one catch for 15 yards. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Bengals.

New York Jets

On November 16, 2016, Alford 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 ...

of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He was released by the team on December 6, 2016.

Cleveland Browns

Alford was signed to 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 ...

' practice squad on December 13, 2016. He was promoted to the active roster on December 17, 2016. On September 1, 2017, Alford was waived by the Browns during roster cutdowns.

Chicago Bears

On September 12, 2017, Alford was signed to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

' practice squad.

Toronto Argonauts

On June 3, 2018, Alford signed with 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 ...

of the

(CFL). In his lone season in Toronto, Alford appeared in six games and caught seven passes for 57 yards, returned eight kick-offs for 170 yards, had five

punt return Punt or punting may refer to: Boats * Punt (boat), a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow developed on the River Thames * Falmouth Quay Punt, a small sailing vessel hired by ships anchored in Falmouth harbour * Norfolk Punt, a type of racing ...

s for seven yards, and

rushed ''Rushed'' (also known as ''A Mother's Fury'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2021 American thriller film directed by Vibeke Muasya. It stars Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who also wrote the screenplay and served as a co-producer) and Robert Patrick. Plot Ji ...

the ball once for 10 yards. He was released on May 25, 2019.

Montreal Alouettes

On September 24, 2019, it was announced that Alford had signed with 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 ...

of the CFL. He was signed for 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 December 15, 2020. Over parts of three seasons, Alford played in nine games with the Alouettes where he had 24

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a Drive (American football), drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicki ...

s for 477 yards, 26 punt returns for 486 yards and three

touchdown 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 ...

s, and two missed

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

returns for 45 yards.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On July 3, 2022, Alford was traded to the

in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft. He played in 13 regular season games for the team where he had 38 kickoff returns for 990 yards and two touchdowns, 44 punt returns for 530 yards and one touchdown, and three missed field goal returns for 129 yards and one touchdown. For his strong season, he was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. On November 15, 2022, the Roughriders announced that Alford had signed a contract extension with the team. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, he had 2,266 combined yards (978 punt return, 1,181 kickoff return, 107 missed field goal return). Alford added three touchdowns on punt returns, including two on July 15 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 ...

. On January 4,

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 ...

, the Roughriders announced that Alford had signed a one-year contract extension with the team.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bio

West Virginia Moutaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, Mario 1992 births Living people American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Georgia Military Bulldogs football players Montreal Alouettes players New York Jets players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players West Virginia Mountaineers football players People from Greenville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen