Jeremaine Copeland

Jeremaine Copeland (born February 19, 1977 in Harriman, Tennessee) is a retired professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He has played with the Montreal Alouettes, Calgary Stampeders, and Toronto Argonauts, as well as in the XFL and NFL Europe.

College career
Copeland attended the University of Tennessee. While there, he posted 131 receptions for 1,300 yards (9.92 yards per rec. avg.). At Tennessee, he played with Peyton Manning and Jamal Lewis while wearing number six for the Vols.

NFL Europe career
Copeland played a year of NFL Europe football for the Barcelona Dragons. He ended the season with a team leading 74 receptions for 821 yards (11.1 yards per rec. avg.) and six touchdowns.

CFL, NFL, & XFL career
Copeland began his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes in 2001 and played six games. During that season he also starred at WR with the XFL's champion Los Angeles Xtreme. He was known for his flashy big plays and the famous long skull cap tail hanging out of his helmet during his time with the XFL. After beginning the 2002 season in the Dallas Cowboys' training camp, Copeland returned to the Alouettes and contributed to their Grey Cup championship that year. Copeland picked up CFL and CFLPA all-star honours in 2003 after piling up 99 receptions and 1757 receiving yards. Along with teammate Ben Cahoon, Copeland set a CFL record for most receiving yards by two teammates, amassing 3,318 yards between them. In 2004, Copeland was one of four receivers with the Alouettes to eclipse the 1000-yard receiving mark (the others were Cahoon, Thyron Anderson, and Kwame Cavil), a CFL record which was repeated by the Alouettes the following year.

In 2005, Copeland was lured west to join the Calgary Stampeders after he entered free agency. Although his statistics did not reach the same levels as those achieved with the Alouettes, Copeland and Stampeder teammate Nik Lewis became infamous for their elaborate touchdown celebrations, including a "human bicycle" during the 2005 season, and the "bobsled" at the endzone pylon during the 2006 season. On November 23, 2008, Copeland and teammates of the Calgary Stampeders won the Grey Cup against the hosting Montreal Alouettes, 22-14. In 2009, Copeland enjoyed his best season since 2003 when he recorded 1,235 receiving yards and led the league with 12 receiving touchdowns, earning CFL all-star honours that year.

On February 17, 2010 Copeland was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in exchange for wide receiver P. K. Sam. He was elected as the team's offensive captain, leading an inexperienced receiving corps and being a crutch for inexperienced CFL quarterback Cleo Lemon. With the team, he was reunited with former XFL teammate Noel Prefontaine. On November 3, 2011, he surpassed the 10,000 career receiving yard mark, becoming the 15th CFL player to do so.

On January 25, 2012, Copeland officially retired from the CFL after 11 seasons in professional football.

Coaching career
After announcing his retirement, Copeland was named the wide receivers coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, joining former offensive coordinator George Cortez who was now the team's head coach.