Ayers Slated To Play First Professional Football Game In 2024 CFL Opener

Former Ashland University All-American linebacker Michael Ayers is scheduled to play his first professional football game on Thursday (June 6) night as a member of the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
 
Ayers, 25, who made the Blue Bombers roster following final cuts on Sunday (June 2), will be a part of a Winnipeg team which will open the 2024 CFL season at home on Thursday night vs. the Montreal Alouettes. It will be a rematch of the 2023 Grey Cup – the CFL championship game.
 
"I'm honored for the opportunity to join such a great organization, knowing there's still more work to get done," said Ayers.
 
"All of Eagle Nation is proud of Mike for his resiliency," said Ashland head football coach Doug Geiser. "With my experience in the CFL, he is tailor-made, he is a great fit for what they expect. He should be at the start of a long and productive career."
 
When Ayers plays for the Blue Bombers, he will become the first former Eagle to play in a CFL regular-season contest, according to Steve Daniel, CFL Associate Vice President, Football Analytics and CFL Historian.
 
Thursday's Winnipeg-Montreal game will be broadcast live on Thursday night on CBS Sports Network.
 
Ayers signed with Winnipeg on Feb. 2 after being drafted by the then-XFL Houston Roughnecks in June of 2023, and spending time with the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. All of that came after an impressive senior season in 2022 at Ashland in which he amassed 81 total tackles (48 solo), 10½ tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception, eight pass breakups, 11 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
 
His 28½ career tackles for loss are tied for sixth-most in program history.
 
The long list of Ayers senior-season honors included:

• First-team American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America selection, Ashland's first first-team All-American in five years and Ashland's first first-team All-American linebacker in 31 years.
• First-team linebacker on the 2022 D2Football.com Elite 100 Team.
• First-team All-Super Region 1 from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).
• Great Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
• First-team All-Great Midwest.
• Finalist for the Cliff Harris Award.

Ayers twice led the Eagles in both total tackles and tackles for loss, and was the 2021 Great Midwest Defensive Player of the Year.
 
The Blue Bombers have won 12 Grey Cups, most recently in 2019 and 2021. Winnipeg has played in four consecutive CFL title games and five straight Western Division finals.