Jerry Dewayne Tillery Jr. (born October 8, 1996) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

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 Notre Dame.

High school career

Tillery attended

Evangel Christian Academy Evangel Christian Academy is a private, Christian school in Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shr ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. As a senior he had 93 tackles and seven sacks. He committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

to play college football.

College career

Tillery was originally going to play

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

as a freshman at Notre Dame in 2015, but it was later decided he would play defensive tackle. That season, he played in 12 games with three starts and recorded 12 tackles and a sack. As a sophomore in 2016, he started 11 of 12 games, recording 37 tackles. As a junior in 2017, Tillery started all 13 games, finishing the season with 56 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He returned to Notre Dame for his senior year in 2018.

College statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Chargers

Tillery was drafted by the

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

28th overall in the first round of 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. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. In Week 9 of the 2020 season against the

, Tillery recorded a strip sack on

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fresno State, where he twice received first-team All- MWC honors, and wa ...

that he also recovered during the 27–25 loss. This was Tillery's first forced fumble and fumble recovery in the NFL. The Chargers declined the fifth-year option on Tillery's contract on May 2, 2022, making him a free agent after the season. Tillery was waived on November 10, 2022.

Las Vegas Raiders

On November 14, 2022, Tillery was claimed off waivers by the

. Tillery re-signed with the Raiders on March 17, 2023. In an October 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Tillery was ejected after a late hit on former teammate

Justin Herbert Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon, where he won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and was named ...

References

External links

Sports Reference (college)Las Vegas Raiders bioNotre Dame Fighting Irish bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillery, Jerry 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football defensive tackles Evangel Christian Academy alumni Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Los Angeles Chargers players Las Vegas Raiders players