James Byron Casey (born September 22, 1984) is a former

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 ...

and fullback who is the tight ends coach for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

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 was drafted by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

and has also played for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

and played baseball and football at Azle High School.

Personal life

Casey lost his mother at the age of 16, when a fire burned their home. He was only left with his backpack and the clothes he was wearing. He received support from citizens of

Azle, Texas Azle ( ) is a small city west of Fort Worth in Parker and Tarrant Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,947. Azle is the home of the Azle Marching Green Pride marching band and the Fighting Azl ...

, who provided clothes, shelter and money to further his studies and his athletic career. He lived in various locations, with his older sister for a while, with his future wife’s family, with the trainer at Azle High School. Casey is married to his high school sweetheart, Kylie, and has two sons with her.

Baseball career

Casey was drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in the seventh round of the 2003 MLB Draft. He played in the White Sox organization for three years before retiring after 2006 to pursue a career in football.

College career

After retiring from baseball Casey chose to play

. As a freshman in 2007 Casey started four of 12 games recording 46 receptions for 585 yards and four

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He also had 144 rushing yards on 45 carries and five touchdowns as a

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)#Offen ...

and completed two of seven passes for 32 yards and an

interception 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 b ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He also played seven different positions in a game against

Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

. As a sophomore in 2008 Casey started all 13 games at tight end earning third-team All-American and first-team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

honors. He finished the season setting a single-season school record for receptions with 111 for 1,329 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also added 241 rushing yards on 57 carries and six touchdowns and completed two of five passes for five yards. Casey ended his collegiate career with NCAA tight end records for most passes caught in a season, most passes caught per game in a season, most yards gained in a season, and most yards per game in a season. After his sophomore year Casey announced that he would enter the

. Casey graduated from Rice with a triple major in Economics, Sports Management, and Managerial Studies and a 3.84 GPA.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Casey was drafted by the

in the fifth round of the

. In his first game as starter, Casey caught three passes for 29 yards, but did not record a carry. In 2011, Casey was named the Texans starting fullback.

Philadelphia Eagles

Casey signed a three-year, $14.6 million contract with the

on March 12, 2013. Casey was released by the Eagles on February 19, 2015.

Denver Broncos

Casey signed a one-year deal with the Broncos on April 11, 2015. He was reunited with his former Texans head coach,

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Denver Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position ...

. On October 9, 2015, Casey was released from the Broncos to make room for

Derek Wolfe Derek Wolfe (born February 24, 1990) is a former American football defensive end and a current sports radio host. He played college football at the University of Cincinnati and was selected 36th overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2012 NFL ...

, who came off a four-game suspension.

Coaching career

University of Houston

On January 13, 2016, it was announced that Casey had joined the coaching staff of the

Houston Cougars football The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). The UH football program is a member of the Big 1 ...

team as an offensive analyst. On December 22, 2016, was promoted to tight ends coach under new

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

head coach,

Major Applewhite Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the South Alabama Jaguars. He served as head coach at the University of Houston from ...

Cincinnati Bengals

On February 7, 2019 Casey was hired by the Bengals to be their tight ends coach.

References

External links

*
Rice Owls bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, James 1984 births Living people American football fullbacks American football tight ends Rice Owls football players Houston Texans players Philadelphia Eagles players Denver Broncos players Bristol White Sox players Great Falls White Sox players Laredo Broncos players Fort Worth Cats players All-American college football players Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Houston Cougars football coaches People from Azle, Texas Cincinnati Bengals coaches