Tyrel Dodson (born June 25, 1998) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

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

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

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

Early life

Dodson grew up in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, raised by his single mother Angela, and was rated a 4-star prospect by '' 24/7 Sports'' and ''

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

'' after garnering several awards as a high school senior at Centennial High School. He attended college at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, choosing to play for their college football team over other schools such as

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 ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and others. As a freshman in 2016, Dodson recorded 27

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, including 1.5 for a loss, and recorded a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery as a reserve

. He garnered a team-leading 105 tackles as a sophomore, with 11.0 for a loss and 5.5

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s in addition to 3

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

and 6 pass breakups. After a strong junior year in which he finished third on the team with 61 tackles, Dodson announced that he would forgo his senior year and declare for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Dodson signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

as an undrafted free agent following 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 ...

. Following an incident in Arizona in which he was arrested and accused of domestic violence, Dodson received a six-game suspension after pleading guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges. He was later waived 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 ...

upon finishing his suspension. Dodson made his first regular season appearance on September 13, 2020, during a 27–17 win over 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 ...

. He entered in place of starting

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

Tremaine Edmunds, who suffered a shoulder injury, and was himself injured later in the game. Dodson recorded his first career sack during the game, taking down Jets quarterback

Sam Darnold Sam Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans football, USC Trojans, winn ...

. With Edmunds out the following week against the

, Dodson made his first career start. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on October 24, 2020. He was activated on December 12, 2020. Dodson played in 16 games in the 2021 season and recorded 15 tackles. On February 10, 2022, Dodson signed a one-year contract extension with the Bills. In the 2022 season, Dodson appeared in 16 games and started three. He finished with one sack, 32 total tackles (22 solo), and one fumble recovery. On March 14, 2023, Dodson signed another one-year contract extension. He competed for the starting middle linebacker position in the wake of Edmunds' departure in free agency, but lost out to

Terrel Bernard Terrel Bernard (born May 7, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears. Early life Bernard grew up in La Porte, Texas and att ...

, who had missed most of preseason. Despite this, Dodson would be thrust into the starting lineup himself when All-Pro

Matt Milano Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an American professional American football, football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles football, Boston ...

suffered a season-ending leg fracture. Dodson finished the season with 10 starts and a career-high in playing time, with most of his snaps being on run defense. He was also graded as the Bills' most-improved player that season by ''

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

'', improving his score to 89.5, the second highest among linebackers league-wide, from a 2022 score of 48.4.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 14, 2024, Dodson signed with the

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 ...

On July 18, 2024, Dodson was placed on the Active/ Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. On July 23, he was activated from the PUP list after passing his physical. After starting the first nine games of the season as the Seahawks leading tackler, Dodson was waived on November 11, 2024.

Miami Dolphins

Dodson was claimed off waivers by the

on November 12, 2024. In Week 17, Dodson recorded 15 tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup in a 20-3 win over the Cleveland Browns, earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week. On March 13, 2025, Dodson re-signed with the Dolphins on a two-year, $8.25 million contract.

Personal life

Dodson was the first alumnus from Centennial High School to make it into the NFL. He hosted a football camp for the school in 2021.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bioTexas A&M Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Tyrel 1998 births Living people American football linebackers Texas A&M Aggies football players Buffalo Bills players Sportspeople from Franklin, Tennessee Players of American football from Williamson County, Tennessee Seattle Seahawks players Miami Dolphins players