Caleb Ray Farley (born November 2, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

and was selected by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

in the first round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. Farley struggled with injuries throughout his tenure with the Titans. He played in only twelve games with two starts in his first two seasons before missing the entire 2023 season. He was released by the Titans prior to the start of the 2024 season.

Early life

Farley attended

Maiden High School Maiden High School is a public high school located in Maiden, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Catawba County Schools district. Overview Maiden High School was founded in 1953. In 2006, Maiden High moved from its former older bu ...

Maiden, North Carolina Maiden is a town in Catawba and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,845 at the 2023 census. Maiden High School was the first public high school in the state with an observatory and is currently home to an ...

. He played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in high school. As a senior he passed for 1,776 yards with 21

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

and rushed for 2,574 yards with 37 rushing touchdowns. For his career he had 10,425 total yards and 124 touchdowns. He committed to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

to play

College career

Farley originally intended to be a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

his freshman year at Virginia Tech in 2017, but missed the season due to a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

. Returning from the injury in 2018, he was converted into a cornerback. He finished the season with 36 tackles, two interceptions and a sack. In 2019 Farley was named a first-team All-ACC after recording 20 tackles, four interceptions, and a touchdown. Farley returned to Virginia Tech for his junior season in 2020 but later opted out due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Professional career

Farley was considered a very risky prospect for the upcoming

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

due to concerns over his multiple injuries and recent back problems. As a result, his draft stock fell and he was regarded as a high risk, high reward prospect.

Tennessee Titans

Farley was selected by the

with the 22nd overall pick in the

. On May 13, 2021, the Titans signed Farley to a fully guaranteed four-year, $13.945 million contract. Heading into training camp, Farley was placed on the non-football injury list on July 24, 2021. He passed a physical and was activated off the non-football injury list on August 2, 2021, playing in his first practice the same day. In Week 6, Farley suffered a torn ACL and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on October 19, 2021. Farley entered the 2022 season as a backup cornerback for the Titans. He played in nine games before suffering a herniated disk in his back in Week 10. He was placed on injured reserve on November 15, 2022. On December 8, the Titans announced that Farley would miss the remainder of the season, after undergoing a

microdiscectomy A discectomy (also called open discectomy, if done through a 1/2 inch or larger skin opening) is the surgical removal of abnormal disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord. The procedure involves removing a portion of an int ...

on his back. Farley began the 2023 season on the reserve/ physically unable to perform list. On May 2, 2024, the Titans declined the fifth-year option on Farley's contract, making him a free agent after the 2024 season. Farley was released on August 27, 2024.

Carolina Panthers

On October 2, 2024, Farley 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

practice squad. He made his debut with the Panthers on October 27 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He was signed to the active roster on November 18.

Personal life

On August 22, 2023, Farley's home in

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 census, making it the most populo ...

, was leveled in an explosion, killing his father Robert Farley and injuring another man. Farley holds a youth football camp in his hometown of Maiden, working to help aspiring football players.NFL's Caleb Farley holds youth football camp in Maiden NC
''Hickory Daily Record''. Retrieved September 1, 2024.

References

External links

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Carolina Panthers bioVirginia Tech Hokies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, Caleb 1998 births Living people People from Maiden, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football cornerbacks Virginia Tech Hokies football players Tennessee Titans players Carolina Panthers players