After playing his college football at McMastger, Jese Lumsden was a first round draft pick of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2005 CFL college draft. Lumsden was one of the most highly anticipated Canadian running backs in years, having won the Hec Creighton trophy as the outstanding player in Canadian college ball in 2004, and because of his pedigree as his father Neil Lumsden was a star fullback for the Edmonton Eskimos dynasty in the early 1980s.
Lumsden was also sought out by the NFL and that delayed his CFL debut. In 2005, Lumsden was signed by the Seattle Seahawks and Lumsden then joined the Tiger-Cats for 7 games and showing the promise that was expected with 307 yards rusing. In 2007, Lumsden took another crack at the NFL, this time with the Washington Redskins, but was again released and returned to Hamilton where he played in just 4 games. Lumsden would have his best season in the CFL in 2007 when he rushed for 743 yards and had 26 catches for another 348 yards to win an East All-Star. Those numbers were put up in only 10 games as Lumsde's season was shortened due to injuries, something which would unfortunately dog the star running back during his career. Lumsden had 584 yards rushing in nine games in another injury filled season in 2008. Perhaps tired of the injuries that plagued Lumsden, and despite his great potential, the Tiger-Cats didn't try too hard to keep Lumsden when he became a free agent after the 2008 season. With much pomp, Lumsden was signed by his father's old team, the Edmonton Eskimos and instlaledas the number one running back for the 2009 season. The dream didn't last a quarter as in the first game of the season, Lumsden was injured ad finished for the season. The Eskimos released Lumsden and his career appeared to be over, but he signed with Calgary part way through the 2010 season and played three games for the Stampeders.
Jesse Lumsden had a CFL career that was cut short by injuries, but he did have a significant impact on the game while he played and in the years following. When Lumsden entered the CFL, Canadian running backs rarely got to carry the ball and were used almost exclusively as blocking fullbacks who caught the odd screen pass out of the backfield. Lumsden showed that a Canadian could be the "feature back" in an offence and in the years that followed helped pave the way for players like Rob Cornish in Calgary and Andrew Harris in BC.
And while Lumsden was done with football, hewas not done with sports. Lumsden became interested in bobsledding and was part of the Canadian Olympic team at the 2010 winter Olympics.
CFL Players Follow Jese Lumsden Onto Canadian Bobsled Team
Former CFL Star Misses Grey Cup to Compete on World Cup Bobsled Circuit
| Year | Team | GP | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | HAM | 7 | 60 | 307 | 5.1 | 1 | 43 | 11 | 153 | 13.9 | 1 | 78 | 12 |
| 2006 | HAM | 4 | 40 | 163 | 4.1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 51 | 10.2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| 2007 | HAM | 10 | 98 | 743 | 7.6 | 3 | 75 | 26 | 348 | 13.4 | 1 | 51 | 24 |
| 2008 | HAM | 9 | 87 | 584 | 6.7 | 5 | 57 | 7 | 78 | 11.1 | 0 | 17 | 30 |
| 2009 | EDM | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 2010 | CAL | 3 | 4 | 40 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Year | Team | KOR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | HAM | 11 | 259 | 23.5 | 0 | 42 |
| 2006 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | CAL | 1 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 30 |
Fumbles
| Year | Team | F | FL | OFR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | HAM | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | HAM | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2008 | HAM | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | CAL | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Team | T | ST | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | HAM | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2006 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | HAM | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2008 | HAM | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2009 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | CAL | 1 | 1 | 2 |
