Gabriel Appiah-Kubi, Lions receiver and social sciences student at York University, was drafted to the Edmonton Elks for the upcoming Canadian Football League (CFL) season.
Among Appiah-Kubi’s many noteworthy achievements, he most recently made waves at the inaugural New Era 2023 CFL invitational combine in March, where he placed first in three different events, tied for second in a fourth, and secured his spot at the following national CFL combine.
At the March showcase, Appiah-Kubi posted a 4.48-second 40-yard dash time; a ten-foot-seven and five-eighths inches broad jump; a 37-inch vertical jump, a full inch higher than the runner-up; and a 4.25-second short shuttle, just seven hundredths of a second behind the first-place runner in that event.
Both the regional and national combines welcomed an array of CFL scouts, coaches and team managers, and Appiah-Kubi’s breakout performance at the former made him a name to watch for following the commencement of the 2023 CFL draft.
Appiah-Kubi maintained similarly impressive stats throughout the 2022 football season, and the four seasons prior that he played with the Lions. The five-foot-eleven, 160-pound Brampton, Ont. local played a crucial role in all eight games of the most recent season, earning seven receptions totalling 89 yards – the longest of which was a 29-yard pass during the Lion’s final game against the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
He likewise played all six games of the 2021 season, during which he tied for team lead with 13 receptions for a total of 116 yards. Prior to the cancelled 2020 season, Appiah-Kubi took the field in all eight games throughout 2019, starting in two of those games and securing six receptions for 104 total yards.
In total, through the last three season of Lions football, Appiah-Kubi earned an impressive 26 receptions across 22 games played.
The Edmonton Elks will make their debut on Sunday, June 11 when they face down the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their home city of Regina. At that bout, Appiah-Kubi will reunite with once-teammate turned rival Matt Dean, a former captain and linebacker for the Lions.
This year marks the sixth consecutive season wherein York footballers have been drafted, with Appiah-Kubi being the 11th Lion in that timeframe.
To view the York Lions football schedule for the upcoming season, click here.