Codey Joe McElroy (born December 13, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Southeastern Oklahoma State. He also played college baseball at

Cameron University Cameron University is a public university in Lawton, Oklahoma. It offers more than 50 degrees through both undergraduate and graduate programs. The degree programs emphasize the liberal arts, science and technology, and graduate and professional ...

and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and professionally in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

organization and college basketball at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Early life in high school career

McElroy grew up in

Frederick, Oklahoma Frederick is a city and county seat of Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,940 at the 2010 census. It is an agriculture-based community that primarily produces wheat, cotton, and cattle. Frederick is home to three dai ...

and attended Chattanooga High School in

Chattanooga, Oklahoma Chattanooga is a town in Comanche and Tillman counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is located on Oklahoma State Highway 36 about 23.7 driving miles southwest of Lawton. The population was 461 at the 2010 census. The Comanche County porti ...

, where he played baseball and basketball, but did not play football as the school was too small to field a team. He was a preseason All-State selection in basketball as a senior and averaged 18.7 points per game before suffering a season ending injury after 14 games. In baseball, he hit .578 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs and 52 RBIs and was named first-team All-State and a First-team All-American by

Louisville Slugger Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

College and professional baseball career

McElroy started out playing junior college baseball at

Eastern Oklahoma State College Eastern Oklahoma State College is a public community college in Wilburton, Oklahoma. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The school has a branch campus in McAlester and teaching sites in Antlers (Ki ...

, where he batted .276 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 59 games. Following the season, he transferred to the

for his sophomore year. He started 16 games at shortstop, but batted .161 and opted to transfer to Division II

in order to be closer to home. In his only season with the Aggies, McElroy hit .318 with seven home runs and a team leading 31 RBIs and was named first-team All-

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

. He was drafted in the 19th round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

by the

at the end of the season. After batting .242 with the Rookie League

Danville Braves The Danville Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in Danville, Virginia. They were an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League and were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have played home games at American Legion Post 3 ...

McElroy was promoted to the Class-A

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

towards the end of the 2014 season and batted .217. He decided to walk away from baseball after batting .168 through 32 games played the next season with Rome. Following the end of his baseball career, McElroy enrolled at

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (officially Oklahoma State University; informally Oklahoma State, OK State, OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originall ...

to finish his college coursework. He joined the men's basketball team as a walk-on, playing five minutes over four games and no points scored in his only season. McElroy spent a year as an assistant baseball coach at Wichita State University before deciding to enroll at

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern, SE, or SOSU) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had an undergraduate enrollment of 4,824 in 2019. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an a ...

in order to prepare for a career in the oil industry. He also walked on to the football team as a tight end despite not having played since middle school, catching 14 passes for 173 yards and five touchdowns in nine games.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

McElroy was signed by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 15, 2018 after participating in a rookie tryout. He was waived by the Rams during final roster cuts.

Dallas Cowboys

McElroy was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

on March 11, 2019. He was originally place on injured reserve during training camp, but was waived with an injury settlement on September 4, 2019.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

McElroy was signed to the

practice squad on October 30, 2019 after working out for the team earlier in the season. The Buccaneers promoted McElroy to their active roster on December 19, 2019. McElroy made his NFL debut on December 21, 2019 against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, catching a 30 yard pass from

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...

for his first career reception. On September 5, 2020, McElroy was waived by the Buccaneers. He was re-signed to their practice squad on October 12, 2020. McElroy spent the rest of the season on the practice squad as the Buccaneers won

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

against 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. On February 9, 2021, McElroy re-signed with the Buccaneers. On August 31, 2021, McElroy was waived by the Buccaneers and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. After the Buccaneers were eliminated in the Divisional Round of the 2021 playoffs, he signed a reserve/future contract on January 24, 2022. He was waived with an injury designation on July 26, 2022.

References

External links

Texas Longhorns baseball bioOklahoma State Cowboys basketball bioSoutheastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McElroy, Codey 1992 births Living people American football tight ends Players of American football from Oklahoma Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players People from Frederick, Oklahoma Texas Longhorns baseball players Cameron Aggies baseball players Eastern Oklahoma Mountaineers baseball players Rome Braves players Danville Braves players Dallas Cowboys players Los Angeles Rams players Wichita State Shockers baseball coaches Baseball players from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma