The Montreal Alouettes announced on Thursday the signing of American wide receiver Mario Alford. Mario Alford played 3 seasons for Montreal from 2019 until he was traded to Saskatchewan in 2022.
WR Mario Alford - West Virginia (5’8, 177 lbs)
Mario Alford entered the CFL in 2018 with the Toronto Argonauts, where he played in 6 games and caught 7 passes for 57 yards, returned 8 kickoffs for 170 yards, and 5 punt returns for seven yards. He was released by Toronto in May of 2019 and picked up by Montreal in September of 2019.
Alford played in 9 games with Montreal from 2019 through 2022 until he was traded early on in the 2022 season to Saskatchewan. He was frequently utilized with Saskatchewan, where he played in 50 games and was named the CFL’s Special Teams Player of the Year in 2022.
Alford has returned 197 kickoffs in the CFL for 4,771 yards (24.22 average) with 4 touchdowns and 287 punts for 3,280 yards (11.43 average) with 7 touchdowns. He won a Grey Cup with the Riders last season and signed with Hamilton ahead of this season, where he played in 1 preseason game.
Alford was a 7th-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2015 NFL Draft out of West Virginia and had stops with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Chicago Bears before entering the CFL.