Tony McRae (born May 3, 1993) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at North Carolina A&T, and signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Early life

McRae attended Scotland High School, in

Laurinburg, North Carolina Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...

where he played varsity football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. During his senior year, McRae helped lead the Fighting Scotts to a 14-0 undefeated season and the 2011

NCHSAA The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...

4A State football championship. McRae's performance earned a place on the 2011 All-Cape Fear Regional Team as he was the leading rusher among NC state champion teams with 1,835 yards and 32 touchdowns.

College career

McRae accepted an athletic scholarship to attend

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, where he played for coach Rod Broadway's as a member of his first NC A&T Aggies football recruiting class.

2012 season

As a true freshman, McRae played in all 11 of the Aggie's games, and started in 3 of them. He would get his first start at cornerback to replace starting left cornerback Deji Olatoye who moved to free safety to replace of an injured Isaiah Martin. McRae would finish the 2012 season with a total of 23 tackles, 14 of them solo and 9 assisted; 4 broken up passes and 9 Kick returns.

2013 season

McRae began his sophomore with a 4 solo, 1 pass breakup and a 91 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the season opener against Appalachian State. The Aggies would go on to upset Appalachian State 24-21, resulting in North Carolina A&T's first win over the mountaineers since 1993. Of the 11 games he played in that season, McRae would total 11 solo tackles, 1 assist, 2 pass breakups, 3 defended passes and 1 interception.

2014 season

For his Junior season McRae would start in all 12 games and opened the season with a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown against

Alabama A&M Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Mars ...

in the 2014

MEAC/SWAC Challenge The MEAC/SWAC Challenge is an annual historically black college (HBCU) football game showcasing a team from each of the two NCAA Division I conferences made up entirely of HBCUs—the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athle ...

. Against Elon, McRae put up a career high 9 tackles and 5 defended passes. He ended the season with 62 total tackles, 46 of them being unassisted, 5 interceptions, 16 passes defended and 14 kickoffs returned for 360 total yards and 1 touchdown. McRae was ranked 13th in the nation in passes defended, 15th in interceptions and 4th in kickoff return touchdowns.

2015 season

Starting in all 12 games played, McRae has a season best performance against Delaware state in which he returned a kickoff for 75 yards for a touchdown, earned 6 tackles and 1 interception. He would finish the season leading the Aggies with 55 Tackles, 14 assists, 8 Pass defended, 22 kick returns for 622 yards and 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. McRae's performance earned him first-team All MEAC and Boxtorow first-team All-American recognition.

College statistics

Professional career

According to ESPN, McRae was ranked the 85th best cornerback entering the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

Oakland Raiders

McRae was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2016. He was waived on May 16, 2016.

Cincinnati Bengals

On August 9, 2016, McRae signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was waived on September 3, 2016 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on September 16, 2016, but was later re-signed on November 29, 2016. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals on January 2, 2017. On September 2, 2017, McRae was waived by the Bengals.

Baltimore Ravens

On September 5, 2017, McRae was signed to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on September 16, 2017. He was waived by the Ravens on October 21, 2017.

Buffalo Bills

On October 23, 2017, McRae was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills, but was released two days later.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On October 27, 2017, McRae was signed to the Bengals' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 9, 2017. On September 13, 2018, in a game against the

, McRae recorded 2 forced fumbles. In 2019, he was re-signed for one year. On December 22, 2019, in a game against the

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

, McRae suffered a concussion.

Detroit Lions

On March 24, 2020, McRae signed with the Detroit Lions. On November 8, 2020, he suffered a right knee injury in a game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. On November 9, 2020, McRae was placed on injured reserve. In the 2021 off-season, McRae became a free agent.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bioNorth Carolina A&T Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Tony 1993 births Living people American football cornerbacks Baltimore Ravens players Buffalo Bills players Cincinnati Bengals players Detroit Lions players North Carolina A&T Aggies football players Oakland Raiders players People from Laurinburg, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina