Tyler Gaffney
Tyler Gaffney (born April 20, 1991) is a former professional baseball outfielder and former American football running back. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football and college baseball at Stanford. He also played for the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL.
Tyler Gaffney | |||
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Gaffney with the Stanford Cardinal in 2013 | |||
Born | |||
Football career | |||
No. 27, 36, 35, 34 | |||
Position: | Running back | ||
Personal information | |||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||
Career information | |||
High school: | San Diego (CA) Cathedral Catholic | ||
College: | Stanford | ||
NFL Draft: | 2014 / Round: 6 / Pick: 204 | ||
Career history | |||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Career NFL statistics | |||
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Baseball career | |||
Outfielder | |||
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Gaffney was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 24th round of the 2012 MLB Draft and went on to play two seasons of minor league baseball.
Early years
Gaffney attended Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. During his high school football career, he rushed for 5,547 yards with 99 total touchdowns.
Career
As a true freshman in 2009, Gaffney played in 12 games, rushing for 87 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. As a sophomore in 2010, he played in 10 of 13 games, missing three games due to injury. He finished the season with 255 yards on 60 carries and four touchdowns. As a junior in 2011, he played in 13 games rushing for 449 yards on 74 carries with seven touchdowns. After spending a season playing professional baseball, he returned to the team in 2013.[1][2] Gaffney had an outstanding year in 2013. He started in 14 games finishing with 330 rushing attempts, 1709 rushing yards, and 21 rushing touchdowns.
Football
Carolina Panthers
Gaffney was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the 204th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. While he was originally slated to compete for the third running back spot on the roster with second-year runner Kenjon Barner, on July 26, 2014, Gaffney went down with a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee during training camp. As a result of the injury, he was waived by the Panthers.
New England Patriots
On July 28, 2014, Gaffney was claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots.[3] On August 26, 2014, Gaffney was placed on injured reserve. Gaffney won Super Bowl XLIX with the Patriots after they defeated the defending champion Seattle Seahawks 28–24.[4]
Gaffney was waived by the Patriots on August 12, 2015. Since he went unclaimed, he and his contract through 2016 reverted to the Patriots. Gaffney was placed on injured reserve on August 13.[5]
In order to revise Gaffney's contract, the Patriots released Gaffney on April 11, 2016; after clearing waivers, he was re-signed on April 14.[6]
On September 3, 2016, Gaffney was waived/injured by the Patriots and was placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers.[7] On September 9, 2016, he was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement.[8] On October 17, 2016, he was re-signed to their practice squad and was promoted to the active roster on October 29, 2016.[9][10] On November 10, 2016, Gaffney was waived by the Patriots and was re-signed to the practice squad two days later.[11][12]
On February 5, 2017, Gaffney won his second Super Bowl championship when the Patriots won Super Bowl LI. In the game, the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime.[13][14]
On February 7, 2017, Gaffney signed a futures contract with the Patriots.[15] On March 20, 2017, Gaffney was released by the Patriots.[16]
Jacksonville Jaguars
On August 2, 2017, Gaffney was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.[17] He was waived/injured by the Jaguars on August 11, 2017 and placed on injured reserve.[18]
After his football career had been derailed by injuries, Gaffney announced his retirement in March 2018 to resume his professional baseball career.[19]
Baseball
2012
Gaffney played three years of college baseball as an outfielder at Stanford. During the three years he hit .300/.405/.427 with eight home runs. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 24th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.[20] He played in 38 games for the State College Spikes that year, hitting .297/.483/.441. After the season, he returned to football.
2018
Gaffney returned to baseball for the 2018 season after moving on from the NFL, joining the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league affiliate Bradenton Marauders. In 89 games between the Pirates' Bradenton and Altoona affiliates, he batted .244 with six homers and 36 RBIs.[21][22]
He retired from baseball in February 2019.[23]
Personal life
Gaffney is married to Kristen Louelle, they have two sons.[24]
References
- "Tyler Gaffney puts baseball career on hold to return to Stanford".
- "RB Tyler Gaffney opts to leave baseball to return to Stanford".
- "Patriots claim running back Tyler Gaffney off waivers".
- "Super Bowl XLIX - Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots - February 1st, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
- "Patriots RB Tyler Gaffney placed on IR".
- "Why the Patriots signed Tyler Gaffney three days after releasing him". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
- "Patriots reach the 53-man roster limit". Patriots.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017.
- "Patriots Waive RB Tyler Gaffney From I.R. With Settlement".
- "Patriots sign Tyler Gaffney and Glenn Gronkowski to the practice squad". Patriots.com. October 17, 2016.
- "Patriots sign RB Tyler Gaffney to 53-man roster". Patriots.com. October 29, 2016.
- "Patriots release RB Tyler Gaffney". Patriots.com. November 10, 2016.
- "Patriots activate Dion Lewis to 53-man roster; Make practice squad transactions". Patriots.com. November 12, 2016.
- "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
- "Super Bowl LI - National Football League Game Summary" (PDF). National Football League. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- "Patriots sign nine to future contracts". Patriots.com. February 7, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017.
- "Patriots release RB Tyler Gaffney". Patriots.com. March 20, 2017.
- "Jaguars sign running back Tyler Gaffney". Jaguars.com. August 2, 2017.
- Alper, Josh (August 11, 2017). "Jaguars sign Jonathan Grimes". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
- "Tyler Gaffney: Returning to baseball". CBSSports.com. March 6, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "Pirates sign 24th round pick Gaffney". Pittsburgh Pirates.
- "Tyler Gaffney Leaves a Career of Getting Hit By Linebackers For a Career of Getting Hit By Pitches - Pirates Prospects". PiratesProspects.com.
- "2 Super Bowl rings later, Gaffney rejoins Bucs". MLB.com. April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "Former Pirates Draft Pick, NFLer Tyler Gaffney Retires From MLB". February 23, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- "For Patriots RB Tyler Gaffney, seeing infant son on field 'a beautiful thing'". ESPN.com. August 8, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tyler Gaffney. |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference
- Stanford Cardinal bio