Star receiver Banks, the CFL’s MOP in 2019, leaves Ticats after eight seasons

Published January 27, 2022 at 2:50 pm

HAMILTON — Star receiver Brandon Banks is leaving the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after eight seasons with the CFL club.

Banks, who said in an outgoing message that he “will always bleed black and gold,” played 111 games over eight seasons with the Tiger-Cats and was named the CFL’s outstanding player in 2019.

Neither Banks nor the Ticats gave a reason for the two sides parting ways. Banks was scheduled to become a free agent next month.

Banks is the Ticats’ franchise leader in kickoff, punt and missed field goal return yards.

The five-foot-seven, 150-pound native of Garner, N.C., is a four-time CFL all-star (2014, ’15, ’18, ’19), a six-time divisional all-star (2014-19) and was named the CFL’s outstanding special teams player in 2015.

The Ticats made it to the Grey Cup four times during Banks’s time with the club, including the last two in 2019 and 2021, but did not win a title.