Jake Foshee
Growing up in Alaska, Jake Foshee of Fairbanks didn’t have a favorite Canadian Football League team.
He does now.
Foshee has joined the Toronto Argonauts after the 17-time Grey Cup winner signed the 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive lineman out of Oklahoma Baptist University.
“I’m feeling awesome,” Foshee said. “It’s been a ride these past four months or so, training and trying to make it to the next level, and to finally have the work pay off, is a huge blessing.”
The 22-year-old reports to training camp May 9 in Toronto.
It’s a far cry from where he was four years ago when OBU was the only college to offer him a scholarship out of high school.
“This opportunity means the world to me,” he said. “Coming from a small school, it really means a lot to represent them and myself at the professional level.”
Foshee, of West Valley High fame, was a staple on one of the best offensive lines in NCAA Division II football. Last season OBU gave up the third-fewest sacks nationally and Foshee allowed only three sacks across his 41-game collegiate career.
Fairbanks’ Jake Foshee in pass protection. Photo by Ben Baxter/OBU Athletics
In 2021, Foshee earned D2CCA All-Super Region Second Team and Great American Conference First Team honors. He also received a Don Hansen All-America honorable mention nod. He was a Second Team All-WAC pick in 2019.
“I’d say I enjoy both run and pass blocking equally, both are satisfying in their own ways,” he said. “I’d say I was more successful as a pass blocker most of my career but improved my run blocking a lot in my last season at OBU.”
Foshee anchored the tackle position in college but has spent the past few months training to play center and short snapper in an attempt to make himself more attractive for an Argonauts roster spot.
“The more places you can play the more valuable you are to a team,” he said.
He could also be used as a goal-line option. Last November, he caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of a 42-14 victory over Southern Nazarene and flashed beautiful foot work, avoiding one defender with a wicked spin move before beating another defender by diving for the pylon.
@JakeFoshee pic.twitter.com/hCNo9sx90z
— Chris Foshee (@CWFoshee) November 14, 2021
“Best feeling ever,” Foshee said at the time.
He may have a new favorite moment if he makes the Argonauts and becomes at least the sixth Alaskan to play in the CFL, the first since former East High wide receiver Caleb Holley of Anchorage played in the league from 2016 to 2019.
Other Alaskans to play in the CFL include Derrick Beatty (North Pole), Nick Mystrom (West) and Delvin Myles (Bartlett) in the mid-1990s and Todd Arndt (Dimond) in the late 1970s.
“I think CFL football is very underrated,” Foshee said. “There is a ton of top-tier talent in that league and it is definitely not something to take lightly. I am very excited to get to Toronto.”