Australian Jake Ford Selected First Overall in the 2021 CFL Global Draft
April 15, 2021 - Canadian Football League (CFL) News Release
TORONTO -- The Canadian Football League (CFL) is proud to welcome 36 global players into the league today, following the four round Global Draft. The BC Lions selected Australian punter/kicker Jake Ford with the first overall pick.
"I'm really excited to get back to the west coast," said Ford from his home in Arkansas.
"I visited Vancouver in 2016 and just fell in love with it. Talking with coach Campbell and coach Yanowsky and hearing what they have planned for me has me even more thrilled for the opportunity to wear Lions orange."
The Global Draft saw players drafted from 18 different countries. Below is the breakdown of drafted play by country:
7 - Australia
6 - Japan
4 - Germany
3 - Great Britain
2 - Finland and France
1 - Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, China, Denmark, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, South Africa and Sweden
Below are the selections from each round.
FIRST ROUND SELECTIONS
No. Team Name Position Country
1 BC Jake Ford P/K Australia
2 Edmonton Steven Nielsen OL Denmark
3 Toronto Tigie Sankoh DB Great Britain
4 Winnipeg Les Maruo LB Japan
5 Saskatchewan Christopher Ezeala RB Germany
6 Montreal Joseph Zema P Australia
7 Calgary Cody Grace P Australia
8 Hamilton Joel Whitford P Australia
9 Ottawa Anthony Mahoungou REC France
SECOND ROUND SELECTIONS
No. Team Name Position Country
10 Ottawa Tyron Vrede LB Netherlands
11 Hamilton Chris Mulumba DL Finland
12 Calgary Franklin Agbasimere DL Nigeria
13 Montreal Akio Yamagishi LB Japan
14 Saskatchewan Kaare Vedvik P Norway
15 Winnipeg Tomoya Machino OL Japan
16 Toronto Toshiki Sato K Japan
17 Edmonton Misiona Aiolupotea-Pei DL New Zealand
18 BC Bo Qiao Li DL China
THIRD ROUND SELECTIONS
No. Team Name Position Country
19 BC Takeru Yamasaki K Japan
20 Edmonton Tibo Debaillie DL Belgium
21 Calgary via TOR Aaron Donkor LB Germany
22 Winnipeg Ayo Oyelola LB Great Britain
23 Saskatchewan John Henry Nell K South Africa
24 Montreal Taku Lee RB Japan
25 Calgary Isaac Alarcon OL Mexico
26 Hamilton David Izinyon LB Great Britain
27 Ottawa Christopher Ferguson OL Bahamas
FOURTH ROUND SELECTIONS
No. Team Name Position Country
28 Ottawa Tony Anderson DB France
29 Hamilton Dominik Eberle K Germany
30 Toronto via CGY Max Duffy P Australia
31 Montreal William James DB Sweden
32 Saskatchewan Sebastien Sagne REC Finland
33 Winnipeg Arryn Siposs P Australia
34 Toronto Sammis Reyes REC Chile
35 Edmonton Matt Leo DE Australia
36 BC Niklas Gustav DL Germany
Canadian Football League Stories from April 15, 2021
- Riders Select Four in 2021 Global Draft - Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Tiger-Cats Select Four Players in 2021 CFL Global Draft - Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Alouettes Pick in Australia, Japan and Sweden - Montreal Alouettes
- RedBlacks Draft Four International Talents at the 2021 CFL Global Draft - Ottawa RedBlacks
- Lions Turn to Special Teams, Defence & Three Continents in 2021 Global Draft - B.C. Lions
- Australian Jake Ford Selected First Overall in the 2021 CFL Global Draft - CFL
- Stampeders Select Four in 2021 Global Draft - Calgary Stampeders
- EE Football Team Selects Four in the 2021 CFL Global Draft - Edmonton Elks
- Toronto Argonauts Unveil 2021 CFL Global Draft Class - Toronto Argonauts
- RedBlacks Select Anthony Mahoungou in First Round of CFL Global Draft - Ottawa RedBlacks
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers Select Linebacker Les Maruo with 4th Overall Selection in Global Draft - Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Lions Select Australian P/K Jake Ford with Top Pick in Global Draft - B.C. Lions
- 2021 CFL Global Draft Takes Place Today at 1 p.m. ET - CFL
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