Rashaun Simonise (born May 31, 1995) is an American professional football wide receiver who is a free agent. He has been a member of the Chicago Eagles,

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

, Okanagan Sun,

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Monumental Spo ...

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 their h ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

, Jousters,

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 folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

and

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 and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

Early years

Rashaun Simonise (Sy-mo-ny-z) is a coach's son. He was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. He is the son of John Simonise (who is of Haitian descent). He spent time at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

, wide receiver,

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

. He led the Vancouver College Irish ( Christian Covington also attended) through the playoffs all the way to the BCHS championship, where they lost. Simonise led all receivers in playoffs with 238 yards in 3 games with 5

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. Simonise averaged 79 yards per game throughout the playoffs. On the defensive side of the ball, Rashaun made 27 solo tackles, and 3

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

through the playoffs. Rashaun had managed to play for 2 football teams throughout his high school career giving him back to back gamedays every weekend with games on Friday and Saturdays. Simonise also participated in basketball and track.

College career

Freshman season

Rashaun Simonise came into the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being inst ...

and started every game as a

true freshman 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 ...

(18 years old). Rashaun hauled in 33 receptions and 481 yards with 1 touchdown on the offensive side of the ball, along with 111

kick return 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 position ...

yards on the season which earned him the Canada West Rookie of the Year. Rashaun had contributed in the playoffs, catching 4 receptions for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 18 returns for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns. His big play ability was shown off in front of a huge showcase in the

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanie ...

National Championship in Laval, Quebec where he brought in a 47-yard reception to change the momentum of the game in the Dino's favour but unfortunately had torn his meniscus just a play after the catch causing him to leave the game.

Sophomore season

Rashaun brought in 20 receptions for 391 yards and 1 touchdown during the regular season of his sophomore year. In the playoffs, he had 200 yards receiving on 11 receptions and 3 touchdowns in only 2 games. He also had 2 kick returns for 61 yards.

Junior season

Simonise had his break-out season in his junior year and tied for the lead in Canada in touchdowns with 11. He also had 1,013 yards and 65 catches in only 8 games. Simonise was averaging 134.9 yards per game with 22 yards per catch, giving him national attention. His most notable night came against

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

, where he racked up 9 catches for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns. Simonise also had 4 receptions that were all longer than 30 yards but were called back because of penalties. Rashaun was named 1st team all Canadian and was the number one ranked receiver in Canada. He was ruled academically ineligible for the 2016 season. Six teams scouted Simonise including the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

who used a supplementary pick in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previo ...

on Isaiah Battle.

Professional career

Chicago Eagles

In 2016, Simonise played for the Chicago Eagles of

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) is a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fro ...

(CIF). He played in 5 games catching 11 passes for 105 yards with 2 touchdowns. He then had a workout with the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members o ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL), but was not signed because of his NFL

pro day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

opportunity.

Cincinnati Bengals

Simonise signed with the

after going undrafted in the 2016 NFL supplemental draft. He tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug during his time in Bengals'

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. During his short time there, he had accumulated 64 yards on two catches during the preseason. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Bengals.

Okanagan Sun

Two weeks after being released by the Bengals Simonise signed with the Okanagan Sun of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

(CJFL). He played two seasons with the Sun, 2016 and 2017, playing a total of seven games, catching 23 passes for 392 yards with three touchdowns.

Baltimore Brigade

On March 28, 2018, Simonise was assigned to the

of the AFL.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

As a result of Simonise's positive performance-enhancing drug test with his time in Cincinnati, his

CFL draft The CFL Draft (also known as the CFL Canadian Draft, CFL College Draft or the Canadian College Draft) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from t ...

status was deferred from 2017 to 2018. Heading into the

2017 CFL Draft The 2017 CFL Draft took place on Sunday May 7, 2017 at 7:00 PM ET on TSN and RDS. 71 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The draft was broadcast live on T ...

, Simonise had been the No. 7 ranked prospect in September 2016 and then moved up to No. 4 in December 2016. He was the ninth ranked prospect entering the 2018 CFL Draft. Simonise has been compared to a mixture of

A. J. Green Adriel Jeremiah Green (born July 31, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals fourth overall i ...

Julio Jones Quintorris Lopez "Julio" Jones Jr. (; born February 8, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Atlanta Fal ...

and

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee T ...

in stature. He was selected by the

in the second round (12th overall) in the 2018 CFL Draft. He dressed in all 18 regular season games for the Blue Bombers in 2018, recording four receptions for 122 yards. He lasted just one season with the team as he was part of training camp cuts the following year on June 8, 2019.

BC Lions

One day after his release from Winnipeg, Simonise signed with his hometown

of the CFL on June 9, 2019 to a one-year contract. He again played in all 18 regular season games, but had only five receptions for 53 yards. He became a free agent in February 2020.

The Spring League

Simonise was selected by the Jousters of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

during its player selection draft on October 10, 2020.

Montreal Alouettes

On June 30, 2021, it was announced that Simonise had signed with the CFL's

. He played in 11 games, where he had one catch for seven yards. He was released on May 5, 2022.

Edmonton Elks

On May 18, 2022, Simonise signed with the

of the CFL. He was released on October 21, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonise, Rashaun Canadian football wide receivers American football wide receivers Calgary Dinos football players Chicago Eagles players Cincinnati Bengals players Baltimore Brigade players Sportspeople from Vancouver Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 1995 births Living people BC Lions players The Spring League players Montreal Alouettes players Players of American football from British Columbia Canadian football people from Vancouver Vancouver College alumni Edmonton Elks players Canadian Junior Football League players