Shalon Baker (born August 22, 1973) is a former

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 ...

player and a former player/coach in 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 ...

. Playing with the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

Grizzlies between 1991 and 1994, Baker caught passes for 2,561 yards (3rd best in school history) and 26 touchdown receptions (a team record.) He went to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, playing with the

Edmonton Eskimos 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 Comm ...

. In his first season, 1995, he had 79 catches gaining 1,156 yards and 5 touchdowns, and won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and the ...

. He played in the CFL for 2 more years, but did not enjoy the same success and after one season with the

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 ...

in 1997, he left the CFL. Baker started playing with the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the

in 1998 as a wide receiver/

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

. This was the beginning of a 7-year career, in which Baker would catch 261 passes for 3551 yards and 61 touchdowns. He would also make 128 tackles and 7 interceptions. Baker ended his playing career as the All-Time leader in assisted tackles and ranks in the top 10 in 9 categories for the San Jose SaberCats. In 2006, he began a new career as the Offensive Coordinator of the World Champion San Jose SaberCats. Under Baker's direction the 2006 SaberCats became the most prolific offense in the history of the Arena Football League. Baker is now a single father of daughters Kailyn, Quincy, Kendal and son Mason. He's the Business Development Specialist for Stockman Bank in Missoula Montana and he is an owner of Enzacare, a company that specializes in the remediation of microbials. He was the offensive analyst for the three time state champion Chandler Wolves at Chandler High School in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

.Chandler Wolves High School Football - Welcome to the Wolves' Den Coaches Page - Chandler, AZ
/ref> He was hired by his alma mater, the University of Montana, as the Grizzlies Wide Receivers Coach in 2010.

Childhood

Baker grew up in Vancouver, Washington, and graduated from Evergreen High School in 1991.

External links

former-griz-coach-player-baker-charged-with-assaulting-pregnant-girlfriendAFL stats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Shalon 1973 births Living people African-American players of Canadian football American football linebackers American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Canadian football wide receivers Montana Grizzlies football players Edmonton Elks players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players San Jose SaberCats players Montana Grizzlies football coaches Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Players of Canadian football from Seattle Players of American football from Seattle 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople