Tanner McCalister (born January 27, 2000) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

and

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

. He has previous played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

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 ...

Early life

McCalister grew up in

Rockwall, Texas Rockwall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the County seat, seat of Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall County. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of 2023, Rockwall's population is 52,918, up from 47,251 in the 2020 census. The name Roc ...

, and attended

Rockwall-Heath High School Rockwall-Heath High School is a public high school located in Heath, Texas, and is one of two high schools that serve the Rockwall Independent School District, the other being Rockwall High School. The school enrolls students from 9th to 12th g ...

. He originally committed to play college football at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, but later signed to play with the

College career

McCalister started his college career at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

where he played for four years. He was named to the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

all-academic three times at Oklahoma State. In his four years for the Cowboys he posted 123 tackles, 4.5 going for a loss, an interception, and 12 pass deflections. In his best year he put up 42 tackles, 1 going for a loss, one interception, and 6 pass deflections. After he graduated from Oklahoma State he transferred to

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. In his one season with the Buckeyes he recorded 24 tackles, 3 interceptions, and a pass deflection.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

After not being selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

, McCalister signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. During the 2023 season, McCalister was active in three games, recording two tackles. He was not signed to a reserve/future contract by the team after the season and thus became a free agent upon the expiration of his practice squad contract.

Denver Broncos

On January 22, 2024, McCalister signed a reserve/future contract with the

. On August 27, the Broncos waived him during their final roster cuts. The next day, he was signed to the Broncos' practice squad. On October 12, McCalister was promoted to the active roster. On October 15, he was waived by the Broncos. The next day, he was signed back to the practice squad. In total, McCalister played in three games for the Broncos, registering a single tackle. McCalister signed a reserve/future contract with Broncos on January 13, 2025, but was later waived on June 18.

New York Jets

On July 24, 2025, McCalister was signed by the

Personal life

McCalister has a degree in finance and enjoys traveling.

References

External links

New York Jets bio

Ohio State Buckeyes bio

Oklahoma State Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCalister, Tanner Living people 2000 births American football safeties Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Cleveland Browns players Players of American football from Dallas Sportspeople from Rockwall, Texas Players of American football from Rockwall County, Texas Denver Broncos players New York Jets players