Lirim Hajrullahu

Lirim Hajrullahu (born April 24, 1990) is a Canadian gridiron football placekicker for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He is a two-time Canadian Football League East Division All-Star and became a Grey Cup champion with the Toronto Argonauts after kicking the game-winning field goal in the 105th Grey Cup game. Hajrullahu played college football at Western Ontario and attended Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Lirim Hajrullahu
No. 3 – Los Angeles Rams
Position:Placekicker, Punter
Personal information
Born: (1990-04-24) April 24, 1990
Gjilan, Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Governor Simcoe
(St. Catharines, Ontario)
University:Western Ontario
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Career CFL statistics
Field goals:239
Field goal attempts:287
Longest field goal:56
Punts:651
Punt average:44.1
Player stats at CFL.ca
Lirim Hajrullahu
Medal record
Men’s American football
Representing  Canada
World Championship
2011 AustriaTeam Competition

Early life

Hajrullahu was born in Kosovo and fled to Canada when he was eight years old on a refugee flight to escape war.[1][2] He started playing football in grade 10 at Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario.[1]

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Hajrullahu was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on January 17, 2014.[3] He was the West Division nominee for the John Agro Special Teams Award in 2014.[4]

Toronto Argonauts

Hajrullahu became a free agent on February 9, 2016 and signed with the Toronto Argonauts that same day.[5]

He became the first player to score points in the first regular-season CFL game at BMO Field on June 23, 2016. Oddly enough, he scored the first CFL points for both a visiting team and the Argonauts. He conceded a safety to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, then later kicked a field goal for the Argos. Hamilton won the game, 40–23.[6]

During the 2017 season, Hajrullahu kicked the game winning field goal to secure a win in the 105th Grey Cup for Toronto.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On February 13, 2018, Hajrullahu signed a contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats worth roughly CA$145,000.[7] During the season, Hajrullahu converted 85% of his field goals, while the Ti-Cats advanced in the playoffs to the East final before being eliminated. Despite receiving NFL interest, including a workout with the Seattle Seahawks, Hajrullahu took his time in choosing a team for 2019; he eventually signed a 2-year contract to return to Hamilton after six weeks of free agency.[8][9] He was named a CFL East Division All-Star for the second time in his career for the season. While he would have been in the option year of his contract following the 2019 season, the NFL would not allow its teams to sign CFL players entering these option years.[10] After there was still no resolution to this issue, the Tiger-Cats outright released Hajrullahu on January 9, 2020, to allow him to pursue NFL opportunities.[11]

Los Angeles Rams

On April 13, 2020, Hajrullahu signed a contract with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League.[12]

gollark: TerraFirmaCraft looks *extremely*.
gollark: My (E2E, lategame) ore acquirer and processor. It uses a bunch of sieves running on soul sand, gravel and dust to make ore pieces and gems and such, as well as a void ore miner (I resent EnvironmentalTech, but apparently you need the crystals from it), as well as a laser drill, as well as an ender chest from the lunar mining site. It uses Ender IO machines for smelting/some grinding because they're really, really fast, Mekanism 5x ore processing (which constantly ends up backlogged) for a few rarer things, and 4x ore processing (still horribly backlogged) for most of the rest.
gollark: What will it actually do?
gollark: <:SolarPanel:423059956422410240> <- Is this going to be a 1.3 feature, then?
gollark: https://dragcave.net/view/pIvuxStupid hatchling won't grow. It needs more UVs and clicks.

References
  1. Martin, Melissa (June 18, 2014). "Life, precious life: Bombers kicker, and former refugee, treasures it for many reasons". winnipegfreepress.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  2. Penton, Kirk (October 6, 2014). "Blue Bombers kicker Lirim Hajrullahu took a long, hard road to the CFL". winnipegsun.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  3. "Lirim Hajrullahu signs with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers". westernmustangs.ca. January 17, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  4. "HAJRULLAHU NAMED WEST DIVISION'S MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER". bluebombers.com. November 13, 2014. Archived from the original on November 28, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  5. "Argos sign Canadian kicker Hajrullahu". 9 February 2016.
  6. "2016-06-23 Game Tracker – Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts (2276)".
  7. "Ticats sign Canadian K/P Lirim Hajrullahu – CFL.ca". CFL.ca. 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  8. Dunk, Justin. "Ticats bring kicker Lirim Hajrullahu back – 3DownNation".
  9. "Lirim Hajrullahu signs two-year deal with Ticats". Canadian Football League. 1 April 2019.
  10. "Players stuck in limbo with NFL window issues unresolved". TSN. December 5, 2019.
  11. "Ticats release Hajrullahu to pursue NFL opportunities". Canadian Football League. January 9, 2020.
  12. "Rams agree to terms with kickers Austin MacGinnis and Lirim Hajrullahu". therams.com. April 13, 2020.
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