Elijhaa Penny (born August 17, 1993) is a former

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

fullback. He was signed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

after going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. 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 ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local r ...

. He has also played for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Early years

Penny attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Norwalk High School in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles a ...

. He ran for 1,338 yards on 199 carries and scored a school single-season record 20 touchdowns as a sophomore.

College career

Penny initially began his college career at

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally es ...

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183 ...

, appearing in eight games and totaling 102 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Penny played in 23 games (14 starts) in two seasons at Idaho after transferring from

. He totaled 1,748

rushing yards In gridiron football, a carry or rushing attempt is a statistical term equivalent to a single rushing play. The term is typically used in reference to "yards per carry", meaning yards per attempt rushing the ball. Although running backs are typica ...

and 22

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 ...

on 385 carries with the Vandals while adding 39 receptions for 346 yards and three touchdowns and returning 15 kickoffs for 278 yards. He started all 12 games as a senior, leading the team with 1,159 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 246 attempts and catching 27 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns. In Penny's first season at Idaho in 2014, played 11 games (two starts) and led the team with 589 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 139 carries. The 12 rushing touchdowns were the most by a Vandals player since DeMaundray Woolridge had 18 in 2009. In addition, he had 12 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. He majored in

general studies North America Some North American universities offer the Bachelor of General Studies degree. England, Wales and Northern Ireland General Studies is a GCSE and former A-level examination offered to 16- to 18-year-olds in England, Wales and North ...

at Idaho.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Penny was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 9, 2016. He was waived on September 3, 2016, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 3, 2017, after spending his entire rookie season on the practice squad. In Week 4, against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, Penny had his first career carry, a one-yard rush, in the 18–15 victory. On December 3, against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, he had his first professional touchdown in the 32–16 loss. Overall, he finished the 2017 season with 31 carries for 124 yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with four receptions for 38 yards. On September 1, 2018, Penny was waived by the Cardinals and was signed to the practice squad the next day.

New York Giants

2018

On September 19, 2018, Penny was signed by the

off the Cardinals' practice squad. In the 2018 season, Penny finished with eight receptions for 50 receiving yards to go along with seven carries for 25 rushing yards in 14 games and three starts. Penny became the Giants' main fullback and also contributed to their special teams units.

2019

On March 12, 2019, Penny re-signed with the Giants. In the 2019 season, Penny finished with 15 carries for 39 rushing yards in 16 games and one start.

2020

On March 12, 2020, Penny signed a two-year contract extension with the Giants. On January 2, 2021, Penny was placed on injured reserve. Penny appeared in 14 games and had six carries for 15 yards along with 2 receptions for 20 yards.

2021

Due to multiple injuries at running back, Penny would be used as a hybrid fullback and running back in the 2021 season. On October 17, 2021, Penny recorded his first rushing touchdown for the

against the

in a 38–11 loss. In Week 14, against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, he had a receiving touchdown. In the 2021 season, he appeared in all 17 games and started three. On November 28, 2022, Penny announced his retirement from the NFL.

Coaching career

On March 26, 2023, Penny got the head coaching position at John Glenn High School in

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Elijhaa Penny is the older brother of retired NFL running back

Rashaad Penny Rashaad Armein Penny (born February 2, 1996) is an American former professional football running back who played for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for the San D ...

References

External links

Cerritos Falcons bioIdaho Vandals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penny, Elijhaa Living people 1993 births American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Cerritos Falcons football players Idaho Vandals football players New York Giants players Players of American football from Lakewood, California 21st-century African-American sportsmen College of the Sequoias Giants football players