Tony Akins

Anthony Royell Akins (born May 10, 1977) is a former Canadian football wide receiver and slotback who played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1999 to 2003.

He played in 61 regular season games, catching 121 receptions for 2,138 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He also returned punts and kickoffs.

Akins is a Grey Cup champion.

Akins played high school football at Starkville High School before playing at East Mississippi Community College.

He later transferred to Eastern Louisiana University and played for the Warhawks.

The Tiger-Cats won the 87th Grey Cup with Akins contributing four catches for 43 yards.

Akins played with the Indians through 1998, when he featured as the team's kick returner and led his team with 1,269 all-purpose yards.

After going unselected in the 1999 NFL Draft, Akins was signed by the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League but was cut before the beginning of the regular season.

He was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats shortly after and spent his first two seasons moving between the practice squad and the active roster, playing in 9 games each season and contributing heavily on special teams.

Akins declared for the 1999 NFL Draft, where he went unsigned.

The Buffalo Bills later signed him to fill their final roster slot at wide receiver in training camp.

In late August, they released Akins prior to the start of the regular season.

Within a week of being cut from the Bills, Akins was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to their practice squad.

After Curtis Jackson was released from the Tiger-Cats, Akins was moved to the active roster to replace him as part of the punt and kick return rotation.

On September 12, Akins made his CFL debut against the Montreal Alouettes, where he averaged 21 yards on kick returns.

Akins was named Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in an October game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where he caught eight passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns.

In early November, he was named Special Teams Player of the Week after returning three kicks for over 100 yards.

Akins returned to the Tiger-Cats for the 2000 season.

In July, he returned a punt from Lui Passaglia 65 yards for a touchdown.

In mid-September, Akins started in place of the injured Darren Flutie, but he was later moved to the practice squad in October.

He returned for the final game of the regular season and returned a punt for his second 65-yard touchdown of the season.

The Tiger-Cats lost the East Semi-Final 22–20 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after an offensive interference penalty was assessed on Akins in the final minutes of the game.

The Hamilton Spectator described the penalty as "ill-deserved".

Akins finished the season sixth in the CFL with 393 punt return yards.

He was also the league leader in punt return touchdowns.

On December 12, 2000, the Tiger-Cats announced that they had re-signed Akins.

Due to the CFL's import ratio requirements, Hamilton Spectator reporter Steve Milton speculated that Akins would be cut before the regular season.

Instead, Akins made the regular season roster and regularly started at wide receiver for the first time in his career.

Due to Akins' speed, he was moved to the slotback position in August.

Akins transitioned to a more offensive role in 2001, but his career was interrupted in later seasons by repeated injuries.

Akins began playing high school football at Starkville High School as a freshman.

Due to his small size, Akins rarely played.

As a senior, he was ruled ineligible for academic reasons but continued practicing with the football team throughout the season.

Akins was also able to participate on the track and field team, running sprints.

After Akins impressed his high school football coach by practicing despite his ineligibility, the coach invited East Mississippi Community College to look at Akins.

A representative of East Mississippi attended a track and field meet where Akins won the 100 metres and offered him a scholarship to play college football shortly afterward.

Akins went on to play at both East Mississippi and Northeast Louisiana University.

In his first game at East Mississippi, Akins returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown.

Although Akins developed at East Mississippi and with the Northeast Louisiana Indians, he remained at least second on the depth chart, playing behind Quincy Jackson at East Mississippi and Marty Booker at Northeast Louisiana.