Elijah Qualls (born February 11, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

Early years

Qualls attended

Casa Grande High School Casa Grande High School is a public high school in Petaluma, California. Casa Grande is one of six high schools in the Petaluma City Schools District. History At the end of the 1960s, prior to the construction of Casa Grande High, the Petalum ...

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village na ...

. He played defensive tackle,

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

. The California native was a prized recruit, and ran for over 1,800 yards and 23 scores in his final two years in high school. He committed to the

to play college football.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Washington in 2013, Qualls played in all 14 games in 2014, recording 13 tackles. In 2015, he played in 10 games with eight starts and had 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks. As a junior in 2016, he was named first-team All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

after recording 38 tackles and three sacks. After the season, Qualls decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

The

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

selected Qualls in the sixth round (214th overall) of the

. On May 11, the Eagles signed Qualls to a four-year, $2.52 million contract with a signing bonus of $127,204. Qualls ended his rookie season with a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

after the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 in

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. On September 1, 2018, Qualls was waived by the Eagles.

Carolina Panthers

On December 20, 2018, Qualls was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on December 31, 2018. He was waived on July 24, 2019.

Baltimore Ravens

On August 10, 2019, Qualls was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, but was waived five days later.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On August 19, 2019, Qualls signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.

DC Defenders

In October 2019, Qualls was drafted by the DC Defenders in the third round of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

New York Giants

On August 11, 2021, Qualls signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021.

B.C. Lions

Qualls signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

(CFL) on April 21, 2022.

Houston Roughnecks

On November 17, 2022, Qualls was drafted by the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

of the XFL.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles profile

Washington Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qualls, Elijah 1995 births American football defensive tackles Baltimore Ravens players BC Lions players Carolina Panthers players DC Defenders players Houston Roughnecks players Living people New York Giants players People from Petaluma, California Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Tampa Bay Buccaneers players The Spring League players Washington Huskies football players