Jerry Dewayne Tillery Jr. (born October 8, 1996) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

Early life

Tillery attended

Evangel Christian Academy Evangel Christian Academy is a private, Christian school in Shreveport, Louisiana with two campuses spanning grades K-12. It is owned & operated privately in association with Shreveport Community Church (formerly First Assembly of God Church) whi ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. As a senior he had 93 tackles and seven sacks. He committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

to play

College career

Tillery was originally going to play

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

as a freshman at Notre Dame in 2015, but it was later decided he would play defensive tackle. That season, he played in 12 games with three starts and recorded 12 tackles and a sack. As a sophomore in 2016, he started 11 of 12 games, recording 37 tackles. As a junior in 2017, Tillery started all 13 games, finishing the season with 56 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He returned to Notre Dame for his senior year in 2018.

College statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Chargers

Tillery was selected by 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 ...

28th overall in the first round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

. As a rookie, he appeared in 15 games and made three starts. He had two sacks and 17 total tackles (nine solo). In Week 9 of the 2020 season against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, Tillery recorded a strip sack on

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, receiving first-team All-Mou ...

that he also recovered during the 27–25 loss. This was Tillery's first forced fumble and fumble recovery in the NFL. In the 2020 season, he had three sacks, 30 total tackles (19 solo), two passes defended, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. In the 2021 season, Tillery had 4.5 sacks and 51 total tackles (24 solo) in 16 games and starts. The Chargers declined the fifth-year option on Tillery's contract on May 2, 2022, making him a free agent after the season. Tillery was waived on November 10, 2022.

Las Vegas Raiders

On November 14, 2022, Tillery was claimed off waivers by the

. He finished the 2022 season with one sack, 18 total tackles (13 solo), and one forced fumble over 15 games and four starts with both teams. Tillery re-signed with the Raiders on March 17, 2023. In an October 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Tillery was ejected after a late hit on former teammate

Justin Herbert Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks football, Orego ...

. In the 2023 season, he finished with two sacks, 31 total tackles (11 solo), and one fumble recovery in 17 games and six starts. Tillery was released by the Raiders on March 13, 2024.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 14, 2024, Tillery signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Kansas City Chiefs

On March 19, 2025, Tillery signed with the

on a one-year contract.

References

External links

*
Collegiate statistics
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

Kansas City Chiefs bioNotre Dame Fighting Irish bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillery, Jerry 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football defensive tackles Evangel Christian Academy alumni Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Los Angeles Chargers players Las Vegas Raiders players Minnesota Vikings players Kansas City Chiefs players