Jeremaine Copeland

Jeremaine Copeland
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Date of birth (1977-02-19) February 19, 1977
Place of birth Harriman, Tennessee
Career information
CFL status International
Position(s) Wide receivers coach
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg)
College Tennessee
Career history
As coach
2012 Hamilton Tiger-Cats
2015–present Saskatchewan Roughriders
As player
2000 Barcelona Dragons
2001 Los Angeles Xtreme
2001–2004 Montreal Alouettes
2005–2009 Calgary Stampeders
2010–2011 Toronto Argonauts
Career highlights and awards
XFL Champion (2001), Grey Cup Champion (2002), (2008)
CFL All-Star 2003, 2004, 2009
CFL East All-Star 2003, 2004
CFL West All-Star 2009
Career stats

Jeremaine Copeland (born February 19, 1977) is a former professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He has played with the Montreal Alouettes, Calgary Stampeders, and Toronto Argonauts, as well as in the XFL and NFL Europe.

College career

Copeland attended the University of Tennessee. While there, he posted 131 receptions for 1,300 yards (9.92 yards per rec. avg.). At Tennessee, he played with Peyton Manning and Jamal Lewis while wearing number six for the Vols.

Professional career

Copeland played a year of NFL Europe football for the Barcelona Dragons. He ended the season with a team leading 74 receptions for 821 yards (11.1 yards per rec. avg.) and six touchdowns.

Copeland began his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes in 2001 and played six games. During that season he also starred at WR with the XFL's champion Los Angeles Xtreme. He was known for his flashy big plays and the famous long skull cap tail hanging out of his helmet during his time with the XFL. After beginning the 2002 season in the Dallas Cowboys' training camp, Copeland returned to the Alouettes and contributed to their Grey Cup championship that year. Copeland picked up CFL and CFLPA all-star honours in 2003 after piling up 99 receptions and 1757 receiving yards. Along with teammate Ben Cahoon, Copeland set a CFL record for most receiving yards by two teammates, amassing 3,318 yards between them. In 2004, Copeland was one of four receivers with the Alouettes to eclipse the 1000-yard receiving mark (the others were Cahoon, Thyron Anderson, and Kwame Cavil), a CFL record which was repeated by the Alouettes the following year.

In 2005, Copeland was lured west to join the Calgary Stampeders after he entered free agency. Although his statistics did not reach the same levels as those achieved with the Alouettes, Copeland and Stampeder teammate Nik Lewis became infamous for their elaborate touchdown celebrations, including a "human bicycle" during the 2005 season, and the "bobsled" at the endzone pylon during the 2006 season. On November 23, 2008, Copeland and teammates of the Calgary Stampeders won the Grey Cup against the hosting Montreal Alouettes, 22-14. In 2009, Copeland enjoyed his best season since 2003 when he recorded 1,235 receiving yards and led the league with 12 receiving touchdowns, earning CFL all-star honours that year.

On February 17, 2010 Copeland was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in exchange for wide receiver P. K. Sam. He was elected as the team's offensive captain, leading an inexperienced receiving corps and being a crutch for inexperienced CFL quarterback Cleo Lemon. With the team, he was reunited with former XFL teammate Noel Prefontaine. On November 3, 2011, he surpassed the 10,000 career receiving yard mark, becoming the 15th CFL player to do so.

On January 25, 2012, Copeland officially retired from the CFL after 11 seasons in professional football.[1]

Coaching career

After announcing his retirement, Copeland was named the wide receivers coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, joining former offensive coordinator George Cortez who was now the team's head coach.[1] Following the 2012 season, Copeland left the Tiger-Cats to complete his degree at the University of Tennessee.[2]

On February 20, 2015, the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced that Copeland would be joining the team as their new receivers coach.[2][3]

CFL statistics

Receiving   Regular season   Playoffs
Year Team Games No. Yards Avg Long TD Games No. Yards Avg Long TD
2001 MTL 7 13 182 14.0 26 1
2002 MTL 5 18 352 19.6 41 4 2 5 119 23.8 47 1
2003 MTL 18 99 1757 17.7 57 14 2 14 185 13.2 26 0
2004 MTL 16 83 1154 13.9 42 10 1 7 98 14.0 42 0
2005 CGY 18 64 1211 18.9 70 8 1 4 88 22.0 48 0
2006 CGY 18 54 978 18.1 70 6 1 3 63 21.0 28 0
2007 CGY 18 67 1110 16.6 84 10 1 3 44 14.7 20 0
2008 CGY 18 52 763 14.7 60 7 2 10 96 9.6 29 0
2009 CGY 18 81 1235 15.2 57 12 2 8 93 11.6 19 1
2010 TOR 14 48 639 13.3 50 3 2 11 121 11.0 28 1
2011 TOR 18 43 633 14.7 45 0 Team did not qualify
MTL totals 46 213 3,445 16.2 57 29 5 26 402 15.5 47 1
CGY totals 90 318 5,297 16.7 84 43 7 28 384 13.7 48 1
TOR totals 32 91 1272 14.0 50 3 2 11 121 11.0 28 1
CFL totals 168 622 10,014 16.1 84 75 14 65 907 14.0 48 3

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.cfl.ca/article/cfl-veteran-jeremaine-copeland-retires Copeland retires, joins Ticats coaching staff
  2. 1 2 "Riders add two coaches to staff". The StarPhoenix. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  3. ↑ McCormick, Murray (6 May 2015). "Chamblin wants Riders to be "one of the elite teams" in CFL". Leader-Post. Retrieved 22 June 2015.

Further reading


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