Nelkas Kwemo (born May 5, 1995) is a professional

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who is 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 ...

. He was most recently a member of 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

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

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 ...

with the

Queen's Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Stadium (Kingston) ...

from 2014 to 2017.

Professional career

Kwemo was drafted 18th overall in the 2018 CFL Draft by the

after he was ranked as the 17th best prospect in the December 2017 Scouting Bureau Rankings, but un-ranked in the Final April report. He signed with the team on May 19, 2018. Kwemo was injured to begin the 2018 season, but made his debut on August 18, 2018. He played in 11 regular season games, recording three defensive tackles and 15 special teams tackles, earning praise on special teams alongside fellow 2018 draft pick and core special teamer Sean Harrington. The Argonauts' 2019 was just as disappointing as 2018 with a 4-14 record, but Kwemo developed into a rotational linebacker with 13 tackles on defense, and he continued his special teams excellence with 16 more tackles. Kwemo signed a contract extension with the Argonauts on December 28, 2020. He was placed on the suspended list on July 10, 2021. He sat out the entire season and became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

Personal life

Kwemo was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, but moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

at an early age.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwemo, Nelkas 1995 births Living people Canadian football linebackers French players of Canadian football French emigrants to Canada Queen's Golden Gaels football players Sportspeople from Paris Toronto Argonauts players