Tony Scheffler (born February 15, 1983) 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 ...

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

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 ...

in the second round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

. Scheffler also played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

during his NFL career.

Early years

Scheffler played at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, Michigan, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. He set a school record for receiving yards in a season with 1,340 and finished the 2000 season with 67 receptions and 16 touchdowns playing wide receiver.He commited to play college football and baseball at Western Michigan Univerisity

College career

Scheffler attended

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

and had 117 receptions and 1,345 receiving yards with 13 touchdowns in his career. He finished his career ranked second among tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards in school history. He was also a two-time first team all-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

selection, and as a senior placed fourth in voting for the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, a ...

as the nation's best tight end, posting a career-high 57 receptions for 670 yards (11.8 avg.) with nine touchdowns.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Denver Broncos

Scheffler was drafted by the

in the second round of the

. After seeing limited playing time early in the season, Scheffler saw increased playing time and production after

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...

was inserted as the Broncos starting

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 ...

on December 3, 2006, against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. In a game against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

on December 10, Scheffler caught his first NFL touchdown from a pass by Cutler. After the following kickoff was fumbled, Scheffler caught another touchdown, 48 seconds after his previous one. On May 19, 2007, Scheffler broke his left foot in seven-on-seven passing drills during practice. The injury caused Scheffler to miss much of training camp, the setback kept Scheffler out of his place in the lineup as the Broncos pass receiving

until October 21, 2007 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. Scheffler finished the season among league leaders of tight ends with 49 receptions for 549 yards and five touchdowns. Following the 2007 season, Scheffler, Cutler and Marshall went to Atlanta together to train and work on timing for the 2008 season. On April 14, 2010, Scheffler was re-signed to a one-year contract.

Detroit Lions

On April 19, 2010, Scheffler was traded to the Detroit Lions in a three-team trade involving 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 ...

. The Eagles received linebacker

Ernie Sims Ernie Sims III (born December 23, 1984) is a former American football linebacker and current coach. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He also played for ...

, and the Broncos got the Eagles fifth-round draft pick for 2010 (137th overall). The Lions also received Denver's seventh-round draft pick for 2010. On October 22, 2013, Scheffler was released by the Lions after suffering his third

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in four years earlier in the month. On June 11, 2014, Scheffler announced his retirement, citing the concussions he sustained as a key reason. He signed three contracts during his career and subsequently earned $12,194,000 in his eight-year career in the NFL. Barstool Backyard Basketball Game On September 28th, 2013, Scheffler competed in a 2 on 1 basketball game vs Dave Portnoy and Daniel "Big Cat" Katz of

Barstool Sports Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that produces content on sports and pop culture. Founded by David Portnoy in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts, the company's two primary owners are ...

. Despite Scheffler having a big lead the entire game, Portnoy's hot shooting earned the Barstool bloggers a comeback 11-10 victory. Famous NBA father Dell Curry would later say it was the greatest shooting expedition he's ever seen. After the loss, an irate Scheffler refused to shake hands and was last seen punting the basketball into a dense forest.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheffler, Tony 1983 births American football tight ends Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players Living people People from Lenawee County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Western Michigan Broncos baseball players Western Michigan Broncos football players