| Makai Polk | |
| Current Team: | Toronto Argonauts |
| Number: | 15 |
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| Birth Date: | 4 August 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Richmond, California |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 197 |
| High School: | El Cerrito High School (El Cerrito, California) |
| College: | California (2019–2020) Mississippi State (2021) |
| Undraftedyear: | 2022 |
| Pastteams: |
|
| Status: | Active |
| Cflstatus: | American |
| Highlights: | |
| Statleague: | NFL |
| Statlabel1: | Receptions |
| Statlabel2: | Receiving yards |
| Statlabel3: | Rushing yards |
| Statlabel4: | Return yards |
| Statlabel5: | Total touchdowns |
| Pfr: | PolkMa00 |
| Cfl: | makai-polk/ |
Makai Polk (born August 4, 2001) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion after winning with Argonauts in 2024. He played college football at California before transferring to Mississippi State.
Polk grew up in Richmond, California and initially attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School before transferring to El Cerrito High School before his senior year.[1]
Polk began his collegiate career with the California Golden Bears. He finished his freshman season with 19 receptions for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns.[2] Polk played in four games in the Golden Bears' COVID-19-shortened 2020 season and caught 17 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown.[3] After the end of the season, Polk entered the transfer portal.[4]
Polk ultimately transferred to Mississippi State.[5] He was named a starter going into his first season with the team and led the Southeastern Conference with 105 receptions for 1,048 yards and nine touchdowns.[6] [7] Following the end of the season, he declared that he would forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the 2022 NFL draft.[8]
Polk was signed as a free agent out of college by the Baltimore Ravens in May 2022, after going undrafted.[9] He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.[10] [11] He was waived on September 27.[12]
On September 28, 2022, Polk was signed by the New York Giants to their practice squad.[13] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 22, 2023.[14] He was waived on July 24, 2023.[15]
Polk was claimed off waivers by the Ravens on July 25, 2023.[16] He was waived on August 10, 2023.
On May 20, 2024, it was announced that Polk had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.[17] Following training camp, he made the team's opening day lineup where he played and started in his first professional game on June 9, 2024, against the BC Lions, where he had three receptions for 40 yards.[18] [19] He scored his first touchdown on June 28, 2024, against the Montreal Alouettes, on a 40-yard pass from Bryan Scott.[20]
After being sent to the practice roster in week 5, Polk returned to the starting lineup in the following week.[19] He had his first 100-yard receiving game against the Ottawa Redblacks on September 7, 2024, where he had seven catches for 105 yards.[18] He finished the season with five 100-yard games in the last seven regular season games to finish as the team's leading receiver.[19] In 2024, Polk played in 17 regular season games where he had 61 receptions for 1,024 yards and five touchdowns.[18] For his strong season, he was named to the East Division All-CFL team.[21] He also played in all three post-season games, including the 111th Grey Cup where he had four receptions for 42 yards in the Argonauts' 41–24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[22]