Luke Tasker

Lucas Steele Tasker (born January 18, 1991) is a former Canadian football wide receiver and sports broadcaster. He spent the entirety of his seven-season Canadian Football League (CFL) career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Tasker played college football at Cornell, and is the son of 7-time Pro Bowler and former CBS Sports color analyst Steve Tasker.

Luke Tasker
No. 17
Born: (1991-01-18) January 18, 1991
East Aurora, New York, U.S.
Career information
StatusActive
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)WR
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight191 lb (87 kg)
CollegeCornell
Career history
As player
2013San Diego Chargers*
2013–2019Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star2018
CFL East All-Star2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
Career stats

Early years

Tasker attended St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York. Tasker was named first-team all-state in his senior season as a defensive back. He was a team captain for his junior and senior seasons at high school.[1] Tasker also was selected as academic player of the year[1] and was a member of the Western New York all-academic team as a defensive back during his senior season in high school.[2]

College career

Tasker played college football at Cornell University, and majored in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.[1] He was an honorable mention all-Ivy pick during his junior season.[1] On September 15, 2012, In the season-opening loss against Fordham in which he recorded 10 receptions along with 177 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.[3] In the next game against Yale in which he had a team leading 10 receptions and a team leading 138 receiving yards along with two receiving touchdowns.[4] On October 16, 2012, he was named the Ivy League co-offensive player of the week along with Cornell Quarterback Chris Amrhein for his outstanding performance against Monmouth in which he had 11 receptions, a school-record 280 receiving yards along with one receiving touchdown.[5] During his senior season, on October 27, 2012 in a regular-season game against Princeton in which he had 10 receptions for 201 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns as Cornell beat the Princeton Tigers 37-35.[6] On November 20, 2012, he was selected to the Ivy league team during his senior season.[7] He finished college with 171 receptions, 2,482 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns.[8]

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

On April 27, 2013, Tasker signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent. However, Tasker did not make the team and was cut on August 30.[9]

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Tasker signed to the practice roster with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL) on September 17, 2013.[10] Tasker was reunited with Kent Austin (the head coach of the Tiger-Cats), who had been his head coach at Cornell University. He was moved to the active roster and made his CFL debut on September 28, 2013 against the Calgary Stampeders. He caught his first career touchdown in a 33–19 win over the Toronto Argonauts on October 4, 2013.[11] Tasker only appeared in 5 games for the Ti-Cats during his rookie season, finishing the year with 202 receiving yards on 13 catches with 1 touchdown. His second season in the CFL, the 2014 CFL season, was a breakout year for Luke Tasker. He led the team in receptions (72), receiving yards (937) and was tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns (5) along with Brandon Banks. Tasker was recognized for his successful season when he was named a CFL East All-Star for the 2014 season. Following the 2014 season Tasker passed up on an offer from the Green Bay Packers of the NFL and the agreed to a contract extension with the Ti-Cats.[12][13] Tasker continued his exceptional play in the next three seasons, highlighted by his 2017 campaign in which he set career highs in receptions (104) yards (1,167) and touchdowns (7). One day before the start of free agency the Ti-Cats and Tasker agreed to a two-year contract extension on February 12, 2018.[14] Tasker ended the 2018 as one of the few healthy Hamilton receivers; Brandon Banks, Terrence Toliver, Chris Williams, and Jalen Saunders all finished the year with season ending injuries. Tasker however amassed 1104 yards and a career high 11 touchdowns on 78 catches, and was named to the 2018 CFL All-Star Team.[15][16] Tasker missed about half the season in 2019 with a broken finger and a hamstring injury, limiting him to only 406 receiving yards on 36 receptions. Tasker was not re-signed by the Ti-Cats following the 2019 season and became a free agent on February 11, 2020.[17]

Personal life

His father is Steve Tasker, who was a wide receiver and special teams player in the National Football League for 13 seasons mostly with the Buffalo Bills.[1] Luke married Jenna Fishback on May 17, 2014. The couple met during kindergarten in their hometown of East Aurora, New York.[18]

Broadcast career

On March 11, 2014, Tasker joined the staff of WBBZ-TV as a sports reporter; as Buffalo and Hamilton were separated by less than 50 miles, he was able to continue his career with the Tiger-Cats while working for WBBZ. He served in that capacity before WBBZ discontinued sports coverage in 2015.[19]

On August 3, 2021, Tasker was named the new color commentator for the Tiger-Cats' radio broadcasts on The Ticats Audio Network.[20]

References
  1. "Cornell profile". cornellbigred.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15.
  2. "From The Past: All-WNY Team 2008". wgrz.com. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  3. "Cornell vs Fordham Box Score". foxsports.com. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  4. "Yale vs Cornell Box Score". foxsports.com. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  5. "Amrhein, Tasker Share Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week Honors". cornellbigred.com. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  6. "Princeton vs Cornell Box Score". foxsports.com. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  7. "Tasker, Tretter As Unanimous First-Teamers Highlights All-Ivy Football Team". cornellbigred.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  8. "Luke Tasker college statistics". washingtonpost.com.
  9. "Chargers cut LT Starks, 10 others". foxsports.com. August 30, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  10. "Tiger-Cats add WR Luke Tasker". ticats.ca. September 17, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  11. "Ticats thwart Argos comeback bid with road victory". TSN.ca. October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  12. Edwards, Drew. "Tasker makes the unusual (but smart) choice". The Scratching Post.
  13. "Tiger-Cats sign WR Tasker to contract extension". TSN. 15 January 2015.
  14. "Tiger-Cats ink Tasker to two-year deal - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  15. "Star Power: 2018 CFL Divisional All-Stars announced - CFL.ca". 7 November 2018.
  16. "Stars aligned: 2018 CFL All-Stars unveiled". Canadian Football League. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  17. "More to Come: Who will impact Day 2 of free agency?". CFL.ca. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  18. Staff. "Couple's story goes way back Jenna Fishback and Lucas Tasker". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  19. "Ranney leaving WBFO, WNED to work for State Sen. Gallivan - Talkin' TV - the Buffalo News". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  20. TIGER-CATS LAUNCH ‘TICATS AUDIO NETWORK’, DELIVERING LIVE GAME BROADCASTS & ON-DEMAND CONTENT TO FANS. Press release, retrieved August 3, 2021.
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