Michael Reilly

Reilly before aBC Lions game in 2019
No. 13
Position	Quarterback
Personal information
Born	(1985-01-25)January 25, 1985 (age 40) Kennewick, Washington, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	Flathead(Kalispell, Montana)
College	Central Washington
Career history
2009	Pittsburgh Steelers*
2009	Green Bay Packers*
2009	St. Louis Rams*
2010	Seattle Seahawks*
2010–2012	BC Lions
2013–2018	Edmonton Eskimos
2019–2021	BC Lions
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Awards and highlights
2×Grey Cup champion (2011,2015) Grey Cup MVP (2015) CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award (2017) Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (2017) CFL All-Star (2017) 2×CFL West All-Star (2014,2017) 4×CFL passing yards leader (2016–2018, 2021) CFL passing touchdowns leader (2017) CFL rushing touchdowns leader (2017) Third-team LittleAll-American (2008) 2× First-team All-GNAC (2007–2008) 2× Second-team All-GNAC (2006–2007) GNAC Offensive P.O.Y. (2008)
Career CFL statistics
Passing completions 2,772 Passing attempts 4,134 Completion percentage 67.1 Passing yards 34,805 TD–INT 182–105
Stats at CFL.ca

Michael Reilly (born January 25, 1985), previously known asMike Reilly, is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theCanadian Football League (CFL) for 11 seasons. He was the starting quarterback for theEdmonton Eskimos when they won the103rd Grey Cup and was named theGrey Cup Most Valuable Player. He was originally signed by thePittsburgh Steelers of theNational Football League (NFL) as anundrafted free agent in 2009. He playedcollege football for theCentral Washington Wildcats. He was named theCFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2017. Reilly was also a member of theBC Lions of the CFL and the NFL'sGreen Bay Packers,St. Louis Rams andSeattle Seahawks.

Reilly played three seasons forKamiakin High School inKennewick, Washington, before relocating toKalispell, Montana. As a senior, he set aFlathead High School record with 2,280 yards. He originally signed with NAIA Montana Tech, but chose to walk on at Washington State University before transferring to Central Washington.^[1]

Reilly was a co-runner-up for theHarlon Hill Trophy, which is presented to the nation's top Division II football player, as a senior. He threw a touchdown pass in all 46 games of his college career, giving him the NCAA all-divisions record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. This record would be tied in2014 byMarshall'sRakeem Cato.^[2] Reilly completed 64 percent of his passes over his four years as a starter for 12,448 yards, 118 touchdowns and only 40 interceptions.^{[citation needed]}

Afterredshirting at Washington State as a 5th-string quarterback, Reilly decided he didn't want to bide his time waiting for playing time. Central Washington offered him a chance to start right away so he transferred. He was the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year after completing 65.2% of his passes (207 of 414) in 2008 for 3,706 passing with 37 TDs, six INTs and he rushed 103 times for 415 yards (4.0 avg.) with four touchdowns. He was also named First-team All Great NW for his efforts. He was also Third-team Little All-America.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, he started all 13 games and completed 271 of 435 passes (62.3%) for 3,386 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while be named Second-team All-North Central. He also rushed 129 times for 266 yards (2.1 avg.) with three touchdowns. In 2006, he started all 11 games and was 231/351 (65.8%) for 2,660 yards 21 TDs and 12 Ints., rushed 137 times for 272 yards (2.0 avg.) with four touchdowns and was named Second-team All-North Central. The year prior, 2005, he started all 10 games and was 223/353 (63.2%) for 2,686 yards 30 TDs and 11 interceptions and rushed 86 times for 310 yards (3.6 avg.) with three touchdowns, while being named First-team All-Great NW.^{[citation needed]}

Reilly was eligible to be selected in the2009 NFL draft, but went undrafted. He signed a free agent contract with thePittsburgh Steelers. Reilly completed 10-of-15 for 117 yards during the 2009 preseason, but was waived on September 5, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

On November 19, 2009, Reilly was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad.^{[citation needed]}

On December 9, 2009, he was signed off the Packers' practice squad by theSt. Louis Rams. He was waived on May 4, 2010.^[3]

Reilly was claimed off waivers by theSeattle Seahawks on May 4, 2010. He was waived on May 18, 2010.^[4]

On July 26, 2010, it was announced that Reilly had signed a practice roster agreement with theBC Lions. On August 26, 2010, Reilly was activated by the Lions and spent the remainder of the year as the third-string quarterback.^[5] He dressed for all 18 games in2011 as the third-string quarterback and shared in the Lions'99th Grey Cup victory. He got his first pro start on October 19, 2012, against theEdmonton Eskimos due to an injury toTravis Lulay. Reilly completed 19 of 28 throwing attempts for 276 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, leading the Lions to a victory over the Edmonton Eskimos 39–19. The win clinched a first round bye for theBC Lions in the100th Grey Cup Playoffs.^{[citation needed]}

On January 31, 2013, Reilly was traded to theEdmonton Eskimos by theBC Lions; the trade included the exchange of the clubs' second round picks in the2013 CFL draft and the Lions receiving the Eskimos' second round pick in the2014 CFL draft.^[6] Entering the2013 CFL season, Reilly was in open competition withMatt Nichols for the starting quarterback job.^[7] Nichols tore his ACL in preseason which made Reilly the starting QB for the season. On August 18, 2013, Reilly threw for over 500 yards in a losing cause, the fourth highest performance for yards passing in a single game in the history of the Eskimos football club. In his first season as a full-time starter in the CFL, Reilly threw for 4,207 yards, with 24 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He also finished 5th in the league in rushing yards with 709. Despite his efforts, the Eskimos struggled all season finishing with a record of 4–14 and missing the playoffs.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2014 season, Reilly played in 15 regular season games, leading the Eskimos to the number two seed in the Western Division with a record of 12–6. After defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western semi-finals, Reilly and the Eskimos were defeated by the Stampeders 43–18, ending their season. It was revealed after the game that Reilly had been playing with a broken bone in his foot and had been in great pain. The injury had been caused in a previous game during the regular season.^{[citation needed]}

Reilly's third season with Eskimos was once again hampered by injuries, missing 8 games. He played in the first game of the season, and the last 9; winning 8 in a row to finish the season as the first seed in the West Division. Reilly completed 214 of 329 pass attempts for 2,449 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions (passer rating of 89.8).^{[citation needed]} On November 29, 2015, the Eskimos won the103rd Grey Cup with a score of 26–20 over theOttawa RedBlacks inWinnipeg, Manitoba. After the game, he received the Grey CupMost Valuable Player award after completing 21-of-35 pass attempts for 269 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.^[8] On April 14, 2016, the Eskimos announced they had signed Reilly to a contract extension through the 2018 CFL season.^[9] The three-year deal is reportedly worth over $400,000 in 2016 and then bumps up to over $500,000 in following seasons.^[10] Reilly continued his stellar play in the following three seasons, throwing for over 5,500 yards each season while tossing 88 touchdowns and 43 interceptions.

Set to become a free agent in February 2019, Reilly had a workout with theJacksonville Jaguars in mid-December 2018.^[11]

On February 12, 2019, Reilly became a free agent and subsequently signed a four-year contract with theBC Lions later that day.^[12] Despite lofty expectations to start the season the Lions only won one of their first 11 games. Reilly was able to lead the Lions to four consecutive victories pulling the Lions into a playoff race with his former team. However, Reilly suffered a wrist injury early in Week 18 against the Eskimos who would win the match and eliminate the Lions from playoff contention.^[13] Reilly underwent surgery in the days following and was declared out for the remainder of the season.^[14]

In November 2020, Reilly filed a grievance against the BC Lions claiming a portion of his salary was guaranteed, even though the 2020 season was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[15] He reached a settlement with the team and subsequently re-signed to a new contract through the 2022 season on December 17, 2020.^[16] In June 2021, it was reported that Reilly wished to go by his birthname Michael instead of Mike to honor his recently deceased mother, who did not like the name Mike.^[17] After beginning the2021 season with lingering injury issues, Reilly finished the year with 12 starts in 13 games played and passed for a league-leading 3,283 yards. On January 24, 2022, the Lions announced that Reilly had retired.^[18]

*team qualified for crossover

• CFL.ca bio
• Media related toMichael Reilly (quarterback) at Wikimedia Commons

• 1985 births
• Living people
• American football quarterbacks
• BC Lions players
• Central Washington Wildcats football players
• Edmonton Elks players
• Green Bay Packers players
• Sportspeople from Kennewick, Washington
• Pittsburgh Steelers players
• Players of American football from Washington (state)
• St. Louis Rams players
• Seattle Seahawks players
• Washington State Cougars football players
• Canadian football quarterbacks
• Players of Canadian football from Washington (state)
• Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners

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