Tyler Gaffney (born April 20, 1991) is an American former 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 ...

and former professional

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outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played

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and

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for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

. He also played for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in 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). Gaffney was picked by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in the 24th round of the 2012 MLB Draft and went on to play two seasons of minor league baseball.

Early life

Gaffney attended Cathedral Catholic High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. During his

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career, he rushed for 5,547 yards with 99 total

touchdown 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 ...

Football career

College

As a true freshman in 2009, Gaffney played in 12 games, rushing for 87 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. As a sophomore in 2010, he played in 10 of 13 games, missing three games due to injury. He finished the season with 255 yards on 60 carries and four touchdowns. As a junior in 2011, he played in 13 games rushing for 449 yards on 74 carries with seven touchdowns. After spending a season playing

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

, he returned to the team in 2013. Gaffney had an outstanding year in 2013. He started in 14 games finishing with 330 rushing attempts, 1709 rushing yards, and 21 rushing touchdowns.

Professional

Carolina Panthers

Gaffney was selected by the

with the 204th pick in the 2014 NFL draft. While he was originally slated to compete for the third running back spot on the roster with second-year runner Kenjon Barner, on July 26, 2014, Gaffney went down with a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee during training camp. As a result of the injury, he was waived by the Panthers.

New England Patriots (first stint)

On July 28, 2014, Gaffney was claimed off waivers by the

. On August 26, 2014, Gaffney was placed on injured reserve. Gaffney won

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with the Patriots after they defeated the defending champion

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

28–24. Gaffney was waived by the Patriots on August 12, 2015. Since he went unclaimed, he and his contract through 2016 reverted to the Patriots. Gaffney was placed on injured reserve on August 13. In order to revise Gaffney's contract, the Patriots released Gaffney on April 11, 2016; after clearing waivers, he was re-signed on April 14. On September 3, 2016, Gaffney was waived/injured by the Patriots and was placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers. On September 9, 2016, he was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement. On October 17, 2016, he was re-signed to their practice squad and was promoted to the active roster on October 29, 2016. On November 10, 2016, Gaffney was waived by the Patriots and was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. On February 5, 2017, Gaffney won his second Super Bowl championship when the Patriots won Super Bowl LI. In the game, the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime. On February 7, 2017, Gaffney signed a futures contract with the Patriots. On March 20, 2017, Gaffney was released by the Patriots.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 2, 2017, Gaffney was signed by the

. He was waived/injured by the Jaguars on August 11, 2017, and placed on injured reserve. After his football career had been derailed by injuries, Gaffney announced his retirement in March 2018 to resume his professional baseball career. Gaffney had a tryout with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

on August 20, 2020.

San Francisco 49ers

On December 22, 2020, Gaffney signed with the practice squad of 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 ...

. He was released on January 6, 2021.

New England Patriots (second stint)

On May 21, 2021, Gaffney signed with the Patriots. He was released on August 10, 2021.

Baseball career

2012

Gaffney played three years of

as an

at Stanford. During the three years he hit .300/.405/.427 with eight

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s. He was drafted by the

in the 24th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. He played in 38 games for the State College Spikes that year, hitting .297/.483/.441. After the season, he returned to football.

2018

Gaffney returned to baseball for the 2018 season after moving on from the NFL, joining the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league affiliate

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the ...

. In 89 games between the Pirates' High-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona affiliates, he batted .244 with six homers and 36 RBIs. He retired from baseball on February 23, 2019.

Personal life

Gaffney is married to Kristen Rorie, they have two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffney, Tyler 1991 births Living people Players of American football from San Diego American football running backs Baseball players from San Diego Stanford Cardinal football players Stanford Cardinal baseball players State College Spikes players Carolina Panthers players New England Patriots players Jacksonville Jaguars players Bradenton Marauders players 21st-century American sportsmen Altoona Curve players San Francisco 49ers players Cathedral Catholic High School alumni Baseball outfielders