Former Cerritos College wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie has been signed by the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. Chukwumezie, who played for the Falcons from 2016-17, transferred to Northern Arizona University and was part of their program for five seasons from 2018-22. In 2023, he attended the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers rookie mini-camps before being selected in the XFL Draft by the Vegas Vipers.
Chukwumezie has been added to the game roster for the Lions, whose season ended at the Western Semi-Finals on November 2. He is expected to compete for a spot on the roster next season.
With the Falcons, Chukwumezie (pictured, left) was a 2nd Team all-conference selection as a freshman, as he pulled in 24 passes for 448 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 18.7 yards per reception, which included a school-record 94-yard catch and run against Golden West College. He followed that breaking the record in 2017 when he pulled in a 95-yarder against Palomar College and finished with 26 catches for 451 yards and three scores. Chukwumezie concluded his career with 899 receiving yards on 50 catches.
A two-sport athlete, Chukwumezie also qualified for the state championships in two events while on the track and field team for the Falcons. He took third place in the long jump (7.36 meters) as a freshman in 2016 after winning the South Coast Conference Championship. He followed that season up by taking third in the triple jump (14.25 meters) at the state championships, while he also qualified for the Southern California Championships in the long jump and high jump.
Chukwumezie played five seasons with the Lumberjacks, with his red-shirt junior season of 2019 being his standout year. He broke out with 50 catches for 963 yards (19.3 average), which was tied for 6th on the school's all-time single season rankings. Like he did with the Falcons, Chukwumezie was a big-play receiver, and set a career high with a 94-yard touchdown catch at Weber State. In an abbreviated 2021 season, he earned All-Big Sky 2nd Team when he caught 16 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown.
His career ended with Chukwumezie catching 96 passes for 1.629 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Chukwumezie was drafted by the Vegas Vipers (XFL) in the 2023 XFL Rookie Draft and then re-signed with the them on October 24, 2023. He became a free agent when the Vipers were not included in the XFL and USFL merger that formed the United Football League (UFL).