Tyjae Armon Spears (born June 15, 2001) 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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for 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 ...

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

Tulane Green Wave The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent Tulane University, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). There are 14 Green Wave interc ...

Early life

Spears grew up in

Ponchatoula, Louisiana Ponchatoula is the second-largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The population was 6,559 at the 2010 census and 7,545 at the time of the 2020 population estimates program. Etymology It is speculated that the name is derived from the C ...

, and attended Ponchatoula High School. As a senior, he rushed for 920 yards and had 880 receiving yards with 18 total touchdowns. Spears was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

after considering an offer from

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

College career

Spears rushed for 192 yards and one touchdown and caught five passes for 133 yards and one touchdown in four games during his freshman season at Tulane. He began his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season as the Green Wave's starting running back and rushed 37 times for 274 yards and two touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 3 and using a medical redshirt. As a redshirt sophomore, Spears gained 863 yards and scored nine touchdowns on 129 carries. He was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a redshirt junior. He was ranked the 6th best college football player nationwide among the "100 Best Players of the College Football Bowl Season 2022–2023" by College Football News.

Professional career

Spears was selected by the

in the third round, 81st overall, of 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 ...

. He shared a backfield that had

Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American professional football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "King Henry", he is known for his imposing style of play and larger build t ...

as the primary running back. In Week 5, against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, he scored his first professional touchdown on a 19-yard rush. He finished his rookie season with 453 rushing yards and two touchdowns along with 52 catches for 385 yards and one touchdown. Spears returned for the 2024 season, now sharing the backfield with newly signed

Tony Pollard Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American professional American football, football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Memphis Tigers football, Memphis T ...

after Henry's departure. He was the only Titans player that season to record two touchdowns in two consecutive games during Week 15 and Week 16. He appeared in 12 games, missing parts of the season due to injury. He finished the season with 84 carries for 312 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, along with 30 receptions for 224 yards and a receiving touchdown.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioTulane Green Wave bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spears, Tyjae 2001 births Living people American football running backs Tulane Green Wave football players Players of American football from Louisiana People from Ponchatoula, Louisiana Tennessee Titans players