Tyler Gaffney

Tyler Gaffney (born April 20, 1991) is an American football running back who is a free agent and former professional baseball outfielder. 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
refer to caption
Gaffney with the Stanford Cardinal in 2013
Personal information
Born: (1991-04-20) April 20, 1991
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:San Diego (CA) Cathedral Catholic
College:Stanford
Position:Running back
NFL Draft:2014 / Round: 6 / Pick: 204
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

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.

Football career

College
Gaffney receiving a handoff from Kevin Hogan in 2013.

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.

Carolina Panthers

Gaffney was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the 204th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

On September 3, 2016, Gaffney was waived/injured by the Patriots and was placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers.[8] On September 9, 2016, he was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement.[9] On October 17, 2016, he was re-signed to their practice squad and was promoted to the active roster on October 29, 2016.[10][11] On November 10, 2016, Gaffney was waived by the Patriots and was re-signed to the practice squad two days later.[12][13]

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.[14][15]

On February 7, 2017, Gaffney signed a futures contract with the Patriots.[16] On March 20, 2017, Gaffney was released by the Patriots.[17]

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 2, 2017, Gaffney was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.[18] He was waived/injured by the Jaguars on August 11, 2017, and placed on injured reserve.[19]

After his football career had been derailed by injuries, Gaffney announced his retirement in March 2018 to resume his professional baseball career.[20] Gaffney had a tryout with the Houston Texans on August 20, 2020.[21]

San Francisco 49ers

On December 22, 2020, Gaffney signed with the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers.[22] He was released on January 6, 2021.[23]

New England Patriots (second stint)

On May 21, 2021, Gaffney signed with the New England Patriots.[24] He was released on August 10, 2021.

Baseball career
Tyler Gaffney
Outfielder
Born: (1991-04-20) April 20, 1991
San Diego, California
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

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.[25] 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' High-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona affiliates, he batted .244 with six homers and 36 RBIs.[26][27]

He retired from baseball on February 23, 2019.[28]

Personal life

Gaffney is married to Kristen Rorie, they have two sons.[29]

References
  1. "Tyler Gaffney puts baseball career on hold to return to Stanford".
  2. "RB Tyler Gaffney opts to leave baseball to return to Stanford".
  3. "2014 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  4. "Patriots claim running back Tyler Gaffney off waivers". NFL.com.
  5. "Super Bowl XLIX - Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots - February 1st, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  6. "Patriots RB Tyler Gaffney placed on IR".
  7. "Why the Patriots signed Tyler Gaffney three days after releasing him". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  8. "Patriots reach the 53-man roster limit". Patriots.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017.
  9. "Patriots Waive RB Tyler Gaffney From I.R. With Settlement".
  10. "Patriots sign Tyler Gaffney and Glenn Gronkowski to the practice squad". Patriots.com. October 17, 2016.
  11. "Patriots sign RB Tyler Gaffney to 53-man roster". Patriots.com. October 29, 2016.
  12. "Patriots release RB Tyler Gaffney". Patriots.com. November 10, 2016.
  13. "Patriots activate Dion Lewis to 53-man roster; Make practice squad transactions". Patriots.com. November 12, 2016.
  14. "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  15. "Super Bowl LI - National Football League Game Summary" (PDF). National Football League. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  16. "Patriots sign nine to future contracts". Patriots.com. February 7, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017.
  17. "Patriots release RB Tyler Gaffney". Patriots.com. March 20, 2017.
  18. "Jaguars sign running back Tyler Gaffney". Jaguars.com. August 2, 2017.
  19. Alper, Josh (August 11, 2017). "Jaguars sign Jonathan Grimes". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
  20. "Tyler Gaffney: Returning to baseball". CBSSports.com. March 6, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  21. @AlbertBreer (August 20, 2020). "Today's tryout/visit list" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  22. "Tyler Gaffney: Heading to San Fran". CBSSports.com. December 22, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  23. "Tyler Gaffney: Cut from practice squad". CBSSports.com. January 6, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  24. "Patriots Sign S Adrian Colbert and RB Tyler Gaffney". Patriots.com. May 21, 2021.
  25. "Pirates sign 24th round pick Gaffney". Pittsburgh Pirates.
  26. "Tyler Gaffney Leaves a Career of Getting Hit By Linebackers For a Career of Getting Hit By Pitches - Pirates Prospects". PiratesProspects.com.
  27. "2 Super Bowl rings later, Gaffney rejoins Bucs". MLB.com. April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  28. "Former Pirates Draft Pick, NFLer Tyler Gaffney Retires From MLB". February 23, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  29. "For Patriots RB Tyler Gaffney, seeing infant son on field 'a beautiful thing'". ESPN.com. August 8, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
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