Tegray Rene Scales (born May 10, 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 wi ...

outside linebacker for the

Orlando Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLif ...

of the XFL. He played college football at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Early years and high school career

Scales attended Colerain High School in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and was a three-year football and four year wrestling letterman. Following his senior year at Colerain, Scales was an Associated Press Division I state co-defensive player of the year, Southwest District defensive player of the year and the Greater Miami Conference co-defensive player of the year and was nominated for the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Scales received offers from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Boston College,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, Indiana,

Louisville 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. ...

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, Oklahoma,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

and

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pen ...

. He committed to Indiana on January 19, 2014.

College career

Scales started all 12 games for the Hoosiers as a freshman, recording 46 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 interceptions. His first interception came against

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wo ...

, while his first sack was on Missouri Tigers' quarterback Maty Mauk, in the Hoosiers first victory against a ranked opponent since 2006. Scales was named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week for his performance against Missouri. Following the 2014 season, Scales was named to the 247Sports.com True Freshman All-American Team, the

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2014 Freshman All-America Second-team, and the BTN.com and 247sports.com All-Big Ten Freshman teams. Scales was one of a group Hoosier players suspended for the 2015 opener against

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

for disciplinary reasons, and he was the only member of the group to remain suspended for Indiana's second game against Florida International. Scales was selected as the IU Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in week 3 against Wake Forest. Scales played in 9 of Indiana's 12 regular season games for the 2015 season, as well as played in the

2015 Pinstripe Bowl The 2015 Pinstripe Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2015 at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The sixth edition of the Pinstripe Bowl featured the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big ...

. He recorded 53 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 interceptions during the regular season. Scales recorded 123 tackles, 7 sacks and 1 interception for the 2016 season, including being selected as the Foster Farms Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player in the

2016 Foster Farms Bowl The 2016 Foster Farms Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 28, 2016 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It was one of the 2016–17 bowl games concluding the 2016 FBS football season. The 15th edition of t ...

. On November 29, 2016, Scales was named Third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and Second-team All-Big Ten by the media. On January 9, 2017, Scales announced that he would return to the Hoosiers for his senior season. On May 17, 2017, Scales was named one of 42 players to the 2017 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Scales signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2018. He was waived on August 31, 2018.

Indianapolis Colts

On December 18, 2018, Scales was signed to the Indianapolis Colts practice squad. He was released on December 31, 2018.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On January 4, 2019, Scales signed a reserve/future contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was waived on August 31, 2019.

Dallas Renegades

Scales was selected by the

Dallas Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayn ...

in the ninth round of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On October 13, 2020, Scales was signed to 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) South division. The cl ...

practice squad. He was released on October 27.

Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)

On November 11, 2020, the Steelers signed Scales to their practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 12 and December 21 for the team's weeks 14 and 15 games against the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was signed to the active roster on December 26, 2020. He was waived on January 9, 2021, and signed a reserve/futures contract with the team on January 14. He was waived on August 14.

Cleveland Browns

On August 25, 2021, Scales signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. Scales was waived by the Browns on August 31, 2021.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On November 25, 2021, Scales signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He spent on the practice roster and was released December 6, 2021.

Cincinnati Bengals

On December 21, 2021, Scales was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad.

Pittsburgh Steelers (third stint)

On January 1, 2022, the Steelers signed Scales to their active roster off the Bengals practice squad. On May 10, 2022, Scales was waived by the Steelers.

Houston Gamblers

Scales signed with the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) on May 19, 2022.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On July 25, 2022, Scales signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was waived on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was cut from the practice squad on November 21.

Orlando Guardians

The

selected Scales in the third round of the

2023 XFL Supplemental Draft The 2023 XFL Draft, is the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL, and the second draft in that league's history following the 2020 draft. The draft was held on November 15–17, 2022, wit ...

on January 1, 2023. He was placed on the reserve list by the team on March 15, 2023, and activated on April 7.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Tegray is the son of Herman Scales and Kathy Wilkerson.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scales, Tegray 1996 births Living people American football linebackers Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Renegades players Houston Gamblers (2022) players Indiana Hoosiers football players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Rams players Orlando Guardians players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Cincinnati Saskatchewan Roughriders players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players