Ryan Thelwell

American football player

Ryan Thelwell

Born:| Montego Bay, Jamaica
Career information
CFL status| National
Position(s)| WR
Height| 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight| 193 lb (88 kg)
College| Minnesota
CFL draft| 1998, round: 2, pick: 9
Drafted by| BC Lions
NFL draft| 1998, round: 7, pick: 215
Drafted by| San Francisco 49ers
Career history
As player
1998| San Diego Chargers
1999| Jacksonville Jaguars*
1999| Pittsburgh Steelers
2001–2006| BC Lions
2007–2010| Calgary Stampeders
2011| BC Lions
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards

* 3× Grey Cup champion (94th, 96th, 99th)
* Second-team All-Big Ten (1996)

CFL West All-Star| 2004, 2005
Career stats
Receptions-receiving yards (NFL)| 16-268
Receiving touchdowns (NFL)| 1
Receptions-receiving yards (CFL)| 436-6,670
Receiving touchdowns (CFL)| 39

* Playing stats at NFL.com

Ryan Thelwell (born April 6, 1973) is a Jamaican-Canadian former professional wide receiver of American football and Canadian football. Thelwell was originally drafted 9th overall by the Lions in the 1998 CFL Draft and by the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1998 NFL draft in the seventh round with the 215th overall pick.[1] Thelwell played college football with the University of Minnesota.

## Early life and college

[edit]

Thelwell was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and grew up in London, Ontario, Canada.[2][3] He graduated from London Catholic Central High School in 1993 and played on the football, volleyball, basketball, and track teams.[3] Thelwell attended the University of Minnesota. After redshirting a year, Thelwell played wide receiver on the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team from 1994 to 1997 seasons. In 7 games in his freshman season (1994), Thelwell caught 24 passes (including 3 touchdowns) for 406 yards and had a long reception of 80. In 1995, Thelwell caught 58 passes for 775 yards and 6 touchdowns. In 1996, Thelwell made 54 catches for 1,051 yards and 5 touchdowns.[4] He was a second-team All-Big Ten Conference media selection and honorable mention all-Big Ten coaches' selection.

## Professional career

[edit]

### National Football League

[edit]

Thelwell was drafted 215th overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 1998 NFL draft, but failed to stick with the team following training camp.[5] He then signed with the San Diego Chargers and played in six games, starting three. He caught his first pass of the season against the Baltimore Ravens on November 15, 1998, and scored his first and only touchdown of the season on December 27 in the season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.[6] Thelwell caught a crucial, 30-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-20 with 16 seconds left that would tie the game at 13 after the extra point. However, San Diego would lose 16–13.[7] Only Thelwell caught more passes than Arizona linebacker Kwamie Lassiter intercepted passes from San Diego quarterback Craig Whelihan.[8] One of Lassiter's interceptions bounced off Thelwell's hands.[9] For the 1998 season with San Diego, Thelwell caught 16 passes for 268 yards.[6] He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers the following season.

### Canadian Football League

[edit]

Having been drafted 9th overall by the BC Lions, Thelwell signed with the defending Grey Cup champions on June 6, 2001.[10] Thelwell would go on to play the next six seasons with the Lions, accumulating 335 receptions for 4981 yards and 30 touchdowns. He was named a West Division All-Star in 2004 and 2005, while recording his first 1000-yard season in 2005. He saw a drop-off in production in 2006 with 625 receiving yards, he was a key contributor in the playoffs, recording nine catches for 83 yards, leading to a Lions' win in the 94th Grey Cup.

Following his Grey Cup win, Thelwell became a free agent and elected to sign with the Calgary Stampeders on February 16, 2007. Over four seasons in Calgary, he caught 106 passes for 1747 yards and nine touchdowns. He played in the Stampeders 96th Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes, the same team that lost to the Lions in 2006. On January 25, 2011, Thelwell announced his retirement from professional football.[11][12]

Due to an injury sustained by Akeem Foster, the Lions brought Thelwell out of retirement and signed him on October 25, 2011.[13] Thelwell was on the 46-man roster when the team won the 99th Grey Cup, earning him his third Grey Cup championship in six seasons. Almost immediately after the win, Thelwell again announced his retirement on December 1, 2011.[14]

## Personal life

[edit]

Thelwell moved to London, Ontario with his parents when he was four years old.

Thelwell also made an appearance at the William Aberhart Trojans 2007 football banquet in Calgary on November 16, 2007. Thelwell was inducted into the City of London Sports Hall of Fame in November 2015.

He is married with four kids.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 1998 NFL Draft on databaseFootball.com Archived March 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Beamish, Mike (January 11, 2007). "Thelwell among big-name CFL free agents". Canwest News Service. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
3. ^ a b Reed, Jeffrey (February 1, 2011). "London's Ryan Thelwell retires from the CFL". The Londoner. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
4. ^ "Ryan Thelwell". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on June 10, 1997.
5. ^ "1998 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
6. ^ a b "Ryan Thelwell game logs, 1998". NFL. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
7. ^ "Cardinals 16, Chargers 13". Associated Press. December 27, 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
8. ^ Simers, T.J. (December 28, 1998). "Officials and Jacke Help Raise Arizona". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
9. ^ Walsh, Chris (December 28, 1998). "Wild Cards". Tucson Citizen. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
10. ^ 2009 Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records, Canadian Football League Properties/Publications, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 978-0-9739425-4-5, p.175
11. ^ "CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League". Archived from the original on April 24, 2011.
12. ^ "Stampeders WR Thelwell announces retirement". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
13. ^ "B.C. Lions". www.bclions.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.
14. ^ "B.C. Lions". www.bclions.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ryan Thelwell.

* CFL profile
* NFL stats from databasefootball.com

* v
* t
* e

San Francisco 49ers 1998 NFL draft selections

* R. W. McQuarters
* Jeremy Newberry
* Chris Ruhman
* Lance Schulters
* Phil Ostrowski
* Fred Beasley
* Ryan Thelwell

* v
* t
* e

BC Lions 94th Grey Cup champions

* 2 Ian Smart
* 3 Ryan Thelwell
* 4 Paul McCallum
* 6 Javier Glatt
* 7 Jarious Jackson
* 8 Bret Anderson
* 9 Barron Miles
* 10 Emanuel Sanchez
* 11 Jason Pottinger
* 12 Dave Dickenson
* 14 Rob Pikula
* 16 Buck Pierce
* 17 Sebastian Clovis
* 19 Paris Jackson
* 21 Ryan Phillips
* 23 Mark Washington
* 24 Korey Banks
* 26 Carl Kidd
* 27 Lavar Glover
* 28 Lyle Green
* 29 Brandon Payne
* 31 Dante Marsh
* 33 Joe Smith
* 35 Otis Floyd
* 37 Alexis Bwenge
* 39 Jamall Johnson
* 41 Lionell Green
* 42 Markeith Knowlton
* 51 Tyson Craiggs
* 54 Dean Valli
* 55 Sherko Haji-Rasouli
* 56 Rob Murphy
* 59 Kelly Bates
* 60 Jason Jimenez
* 62 Bobby Singh
* 63 Amariah Farrow
* 64 Angus Reid
* 69 Lorne Plante
* 81 Geroy Simon
* 82 Jason Clermont
* 83 Gilles Colon
* 85 Kendrick Jones
* 86 Mike Lindstrom
* 88 Tony Simmons
* 90 Aaron Hunt
* 91 Nautyn McKay-Loescher
* 93 Matt Kirk
* 95 Ricky Foley
* 96 Tyrone Williams
* 97 Brent Johnson
* 98 Whitney Bell
* 99 Chris Wilson

* Head coach: Wally Buono

* Assistant coaches: Jacques Chapdelaine
* Dave Ritchie
* Mike Benevides
* Jamie Barresi
* Dan Dorazio
* Steff Kruck
* Mike Roach

* v
* t
* e

Calgary Stampeders 96th Grey Cup champions

* 1 Henry Burris
* 2 JoJuan Armour
* 3 Ryan Thelwell
* 4 Julian Battle
* 4 Will Proctor
* 6 Matt Grootegoed
* 7 Ben Sankey
* 8 Richard Karikari
* 9 Jon Cornish
* 11 Brett Ralph
* 12 Sandro DeAngelis
* 14 Milton Collins
* 15 Dave Dickenson
* 16 Burke Dales
* 17 Barrick Nealy
* 19 Calvin Bannister
* 21 Joffrey Reynolds
* 23 Shannon James
* 24 Lavarus Giles
* 25 Keon Raymond
* 26 Rob Cote
* 27 Brandon Browner
* 28 Brandon Smith
* 29 Dwaine Carpenter
* 31 Wes Lysack
* 32 Demetris Summers
* 33 Dwight Anderson
* 34 Funtaine Hunter
* 35 Lenny Walls
* 37 Marc Calixte
* 38 J. R. Ruffin
* 39 Charleston Hughes
* 42 Mike Labinjo
* 43 Saleem Rasheed
* 44 Justin Phillips
* 47 Neil Ternovatsky
* 48 Juwan Simpson
* 49 Jonathan Lapointe
* 56 Randy Chevrier
* 57 Mike Byrne
* 58 Antonio Hall
* 60 Derek Armstrong
* 61 Godfrey Ellis
* 62 Jesse Newman
* 64 Jeff Pilon
* 65 Ben Archibald
* 66 Tim O'Neill
* 67 Dimitri Tsoumpas
* 68 Rob Lazeo
* 69 Fabio Filice
* 71 LeMarcus Rowell
* 80 Jeremaine Copeland
* 82 Nik Lewis
* 85 Ken-Yon Rambo
* 86 Teyo Johnson
* 87 Jabari Arthur
* 88 Markus Howell
* 89 Reggie Williams
* 90 Julian Jenkins
* 91 Pat MacDonald
* 93 Howard Hodges
* 94 Marcus Parker
* 96 Miguel Robede
* 97 Eddie Freeman

* Head coach: John Hufnagel

* Assistant coaches: Cornell Brown
* Corey Chamblin
* George Cortez
* Pete Costanza
* Craig Dickenson
* Mark Kilam
* Chris Jones
* Kris Sweet
* General Manager: John Hufnagel
* Player Personnel Department: Brendan Mahoney

* v
* t
* e

BC Lions 99th Grey Cup champions

* 1 Arland Bruce III
* 2 Davis Sanchez
* 3 Cauchy Muamba
* 4 Paul McCallum
* 6 Stanley Franks
* 7 Jarious Jackson
* 8 Ryan Thelwell
* 9 Keron Williams
* 10 Kierrie Johnson
* 11 Tad Kornegay
* 13 Mike Reilly
* 14 Travis Lulay (MVP)
* 19 Paris Jackson
* 20 Jerome Dennis
* 21 Ryan Phillips
* 23 Jamall Lee
* 24 Korey Banks
* 25 Jamal Robertson
* 26 Anthony Reddick
* 27 J. R. LaRose
* 28 J. R. Ruffin
* 31 Dante Marsh
* 33 Andrew Harris (MVC)
* 35 Tim Brown
* 36 Neil McKinlay
* 40 Tim Cronk
* 41 Hamid Mahmoudi
* 42 Anton McKenzie
* 44 Adam Leonard
* 45 Jason Arakgi
* 46 Rolly Lumbala
* 47 James Yurichuk
* 50 Adam Bighill
* 51 Joash Gesse
* 53 Jesse Newman
* 54 Dean Valli
* 55 Dan McCullough
* 56 Solomon Elimimian
* 57 Andrew Jones
* 63 Jovan Olafioye
* 64 Angus Reid
* 65 Ben Archibald
* 67 Jon Hameister-Ries
* 79 Eric Taylor
* 81 Geroy Simon
* 83 Nick Moore
* 85 Shawn Gore
* 87 Marco Iannuzzi
* 88 Akeem Foster
* 90 Aaron Hunt
* 94 Khreem Smith
* 96 Khalif Mitchell
* 97 Brent Johnson

* Head coach: Wally Buono

* Assistant coaches: Jacques Chapdelaine
* Mike Benevides
* Kelly Bates
* Dan Dorazio
* Chuck McMann
* Randy Melvin
* Barron Miles
* Travis Moore
* Mark Washington

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