Tyree Jackson (born November 7, 1997) 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

at Buffalo. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

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

in 2019. He played for the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

in 2020.

Early years

Jackson attended Mona Shores High School in

Norton Shores, Michigan Norton Shores is a city in Muskegon County, Michigan, Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 23,994 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Overview Norton Shores is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Muske ...

where he was the starting varsity QB all four years of high school. During his career, he passed for 4,491 yards with 50

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 ...

, had 8,149 yards of total offense and had a 24–18 record. He committed to the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

to play college football after receiving offers from

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

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, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

College career

After redshirting his first year at Buffalo in 2015, Jackson played in 10 games and made nine starts in 2016. He finished the season completing 165 of 311 passes for 1,772 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. As a sophomore in 2017, he started eight games and missed four due to an injury. He completed 143 of 237 passes for 2,096 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. Jackson returned as the starter in 2018, where he was named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and lead the Bulls to a 10–4 season, a MAC East division title and a bowl game appearance in the

Dollar General Bowl The LendingTree Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the c ...

. On January 6, 2019, Jackson announced that he would forgo his senior season to pursue a career in the NFL. He was invited to the

2019 Senior Bowl The 2019 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game played on January 26, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2019 draft of the professional National F ...

, playing for the South team and being named team MVP.

College statistics

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Following the conclusion 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 ...

, Jackson signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2019. Jackson started the fourth game of the preseason at quarterback and led a comeback to erase a 23-6 deficit with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

DC Defenders

In October 2019, Jackson was drafted in the ninth round in 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 m ...

by the

. During the first two games, both Defenders victories under starter Cardale Jones, Jackson's only statistic was one rush for 5 yards. Jackson saw increased but limited snaps during the next two games which were both blowout losses for the Defenders, including a shutout to the previously winless

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operation ...

in week 4. Jackson entered in relief of Jones in week 5, kick-starting a Defenders' victory by going 9-14 for 39 yards and a touchdown, caught by

Khari Lee Khari Lee (born January 16, 1992) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Bowie State. Professional career Houston Texans Lee was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2015. ...

. Within the next few days, the rest of the season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Jackson finished the shortened 5-game XFL season by going 11-18 for 46 yards and a touchdown, and 9 rushes for 28 yards. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Philadelphia Eagles

On January 7, 2021, the

signed Jackson to a reserve/futures contract as a

. During his transition from quarterback to tight end, Jackson was having a very promising training camp, with some believing that he could earn a roster spot. However, he suffered a fractured bone in his back on August 17. He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2021. He was activated on November 6 and made his NFL debut on November 7, appearing in 14 plays on offense and 4 plays on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. On November 21, he was targeted with a pass for the first time in his career, but the throw from

Jalen Hurts Jalen Alexander Hurts (born August 7, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his first three seasons of college football at Alabama, where he was part of the team t ...

was incomplete. Two weeks later, he started a game for the first time in his career. In the final game of the regular season on January 8, 2022, Jackson caught the first pass of his NFL career, a three-yard

shovel pass A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made ...

from

Gardner Minshew Gardner Flint Minshew II (born May 16, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He began his college football career at Northwest Mississippi, winning the NJCAA National Footba ...

, for his first career touchdown. Later in that game, he tore his ACL, ending his season. He was officially placed on the injured reserve list two days later. He was placed on the Active/PUP list on July 27, 2022. He was placed on the reserve list on August 23, 2022, to start the season. He was activated from the PUP list on November 16, 2022. Without Jackson, the Eagles reached

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII is the upcoming championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 NFL season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be the fourth Super B ...

but lost 38-35 to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. On April 24, 2023, the Jackson signed his exclusive rights tender with the Eagles for the 2023 season.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioBuffalo Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Tyree 1997 births Living people People from Muskegon County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football quarterbacks American football tight ends Buffalo Bulls football players Buffalo Bills players DC Defenders players Philadelphia Eagles players African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople