Zach Mathis (born February 29, 2000) is a Canadian-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 ...

for 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 ...

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 ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural Colle ...

Early life

Mathis played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Berkeley Preparatory School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and two-year starter. He caught 20 passes for 351 yards and five touchdowns as a senior. He was invited to the Blue-Grey All-American Game. Mathis earned honorable mention all-county honors in both football and basketball in high school.

College career

Mathis played

for the

North Dakota State Bison The North Dakota State Bison are the athletic teams of North Dakota State University (NDSU), which is located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The teams are often called the "Thundering Herd". The current logo is a bison. Sports sponsored ...

from 2018 to 2023. He played in one game in 2018, but did not record a catch, and was

redshirted 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 ...

. He appeared in nine games in 2019 and totaled five receptions for 79 yards. Mathis played in North Dakota State's only game of the fall 2020 season, and caught one pass for 16 yards. The rest of the 2020 season was moved to spring 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. However, Mathis did not appear in any games in spring 2021 due to injury. He played in 12 games, starting two, during the fall 2021 season, recording eight receptions for 112 yards. Mathis played in all 15 games, starting 10, in 2022, totaling 35 receptions for 520 yards and three touchdowns. He led the team in receptions and receiving yards and finished second in receiving touchdowns. He caught seven passes for 123 yards in the national championship game loss to

South Dakota State South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the second oldest continually operating universit ...

. Mathis was also named to the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate A ...

Honor Roll that season. He appeared in all 15 games, starting 13 games, in 2023, catching 46 catches for 665 yards and six touchdowns. He led the Bison in receptions and receiving touchdowns while finishing second in receiving yards. Mathis was also one of six team captains that season.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

, Mathis attended rookie

minicamp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

on a tryout basis with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. On June 29, 2024, the

forfeited their first round pick in the

2025 CFL Draft The 2025 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on April 29, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET. Seventy-two players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities acros ...

to select Mathis in a supplemental draft. He officially signed with the team on July 7.

Personal life

In 2024, Mathis acquired his Canadian citizenship via parental birth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Zach Living people 2000 births American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers North Dakota State Bison football players Edmonton Elks players Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida