| No. 27 | |
| Born: | June 4, 1983 Ventura, California, USA |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| CFL status | American |
| Position(s) | RB |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| College | UCLA UTEP |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 2007 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 2008 | Toronto Argonauts |
| 2009 | BC Lions |
| 2009 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Tyler Jay Ebell (born June 4, 1983, in Ventura, California) is a former Canadian football running back.
Ebell was a star player at Ventura High School, where he earned three varsity letters as a running back for coach Phil McCune.
Ebell was one of the success stories of the 2002 UCLA football season, and established himself as an exciting performer. He came off the bench in the fifth game of the season, against Oregon State, after carrying just 13 times in prior games, to enjoy one of the greatest days in UCLA history. He went on to approach the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season and earn second-team All-Pac-10 acclaim. Ebell enjoyed an outstanding spring practice, showing that he was becoming a complete player. His speed separated him from most backs and enabled him to be a threat to score anytime he touched the football. He also worked hard to become a good pass protector.
Ebell earned second-team freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News in 2002 and was selected second-team all-conference by vote of the league coaches. He led the Bruins in rushing with 994 yards and was the leading scorer with 10 touchdowns (60 points). He was ranked fourth in the Pac-10 in rushing (76.5), fifth in punt returns (11.4), ninth in all-purpose yards (106.3) and 13th in total offense, despite not earning much playing time until the season's fifth game. In eight Pac-10 games, he carried 197 times for 876 yards and eight touchdowns (108.3 yards per game average). Ebell ended the season just six yards shy of becoming only the third freshman in Pac-10 history to rush for 1,000 yards. His 994 yards ranked 17th on the school single-season list, while his 1,382 all-purpose yards ranks No. 10 on the UCLA list. Ebell ranked seventh nationally among freshman rushers. He became the first freshman (true or redshirt) in school history to rush for at least 100 yards in six games (the old record was two, held by several players), all consecutive. He also set a new school freshman rushing record, breaking Eric Ball's old mark of 703 yards, set in 1985. Ebell was the first freshman since DeShaun Foster in 1998 to lead the team in rushing. His streak of six straight 100 yards games was the second-longest one-season streak in school history (Gaston Green did it seven times in 1986).
On October, 5 at Oregon State, Ebell came off the bench in the second quarter following an injury to Manuel White to enjoy one of the greatest days in UCLA history. He rushed for 203 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. His 203 yards ranked 14th on UCLA's single-season game list (second on UCLA's single-game freshman list). He ran for 45 yards on 12 attempts in the second quarter, 34 yards on eight carries in the third quarter and 124 yards on nine carries in the fourth quarter. His 73-yard fourth quarter rush to the one-yard line was the second longest ever by a Bruin freshman (83 yards by Derek Ayers vs. BYU in 1993). Ebell made the first start of his career against Oregon and ran for 119 yards (89 on 15 attempts in the second half) on 26 attempts. He also returned five punts for 64 yards. At Cal, he started and broke the 100-yard barrier for the third straight week, finishing with 102 yards on 28 attempts. He scored UCLA's only touchdown on an 11-yard run. Against Stanford, he rushed for 160 yards (fourth straight game over 100 yards) and the go-ahead touchdown on 39 carries, three shy of the school record for carries. In the second half, he carried 25 times for 118 yards. He carried the ball on 25 of UCLA's 33 offensive snaps (excluding two kneel downs at the end of the contest) in the second half of the game. In the fourth quarter, he carried on the final 12 snaps. At Washington, Ebell reached the 100-yard plateau for the fifth straight game, finishing with 102 yards and three one-yard touchdowns on 31 attempts. He had three double-figure runs, including rushes of 23 and 22 yards.
At Arizona, he became only the second UCLA player in history to rush for over 100 yards in six consecutive games in the same season. Ebell finished with 124 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. He had four runs of at least 19 yards in the game. Against USC, he led the Bruins with 56 yards on 12 attempts. He had runs of 11 and 13 yards on UCLA's first possession of the second half, but carried just twice more with the Bruins facing a 35-7 deficit, He also made two receptions for 29 yards. Ebell was limited to 10 yards on nine carries in the Washington State game and caught four passes for two yards. He also returned two kickoffs for 43 yards. In the bowl game win over New Mexico, he ran for 70 yards on 25 carries and returned a punt for seven yards. He was named winner of the John Boncheff, Jr. Memorial Award for team Rookie of the Year on Offense.
Ebell started eight games and rushed for 501 yards on 116 carries (4.3 average) with two touchdowns. He also made 10 receptions for 68 yards while splitting carries with Maurice Jones-Drew and Manuel White Jr.
He transferred to the University of Texas at El Paso and sat out the season due to the NCAA transfer rules.
Ebell started the first seven games and missed the rest of the season due to injury. He posted solid numbers despite the injury with 118 carries for 536 yards and 5 touchdowns, and 20 receptions for 250 yards. He earned 3rd team All-Conference, despite playing only three conference games.
Ebell signed with the Edmonton Eskimos on May 28, 2007.[3] He led the 2007 team in combined rushing and receiving yards with 1318, and he was named team rookie of the year.
On February 15, 2008, Ebell was traded, along with wide receiver T. J. Acree, to the Argonauts, for cornerback Jordan Younger. He missed the entire 2008 season after rupturing his achilles tendon during training camp.
During the 2009 CFL season, Ebell started out with the Toronto Argonauts during pre-season but was surprisingly released at the end of training camp.[4][5] On July 6, 2009, the BC Lions signed Ebell to help fill the role missed by the injury to Ian Smart and he was named the runner-up to the special teams player of week 3.[6][7][8] Nonetheless, as Smart recovered, Ebell was first placed on the practice roster on July 22, 2009,[9] and ultimately released on July 30. On October 27, 2009, Ebell was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and added onto their practice roster. On November 15 he was added to the active roster for the East Semi-Final Playoff game versus the B.C. Lions.