Nafees Lyon (born December 10, 1996) 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 ...

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 ...

College career

After using a redshirt season in 2015, Lyon 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

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

from 2016 to 2020, while missing the 2017 season due to injury. He played in 40 games in four seasons where he recorded 137 total tackles, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

Professional career

Edmonton Elks

Lyon 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 ...

on January 11, 2021. He began 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 the practice roster, but he made his professional debut on October 29, 2021, against 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 ...

where he had six defensive tackles. He played and started in the five regular season games where he had 27 defensive tackles and two interceptions. 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 ...

, he played in eight regular season games for the Elks where he had 25 defensive tackles, one sack, one interception, and one forced fumble.

Montreal Alouettes

On August 31, 2022, Lyon was traded to 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 ...

along with Thomas Costigan in exchange for Avery Ellis and a third-round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft. In his first game as an Alouette, on September 9, 2022, he scored his first career touchdown on a 52-yard interception return 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 ...

. He played in six regular season games for the Alouettes where he had 27 defensive tackles, one special teams tackle, one interception, and one touchdown.

Ottawa Redblacks

Lyon signed with the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

on February 11, 2025. However, he was released prior to the start of 2025 training camp on May 2, 2025.

Personal life

Lyon was born to parents Tobin and Belinda Lyon and has one brother, Tobin II.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Nafees 1996 births Living people American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Charlotte 49ers football players Edmonton Elks players Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Redblacks players Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina Players of Canadian football from North Carolina Mallard Creek High School alumni