Tyrel Dodson (born June 25, 1998) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for 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. ...

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 ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Early life and college career

Dodson grew up in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

, raised by his single mother Angela, and was rated a 4-star prospect by ''24/7 Sports'' and ''Rivals'' after garnering several awards as a high school senior at Centennial High School. He attended college at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, choosing to play for their college football team over other schools such as

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and others. As a freshman in 2016, Dodson recorded 27 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and recorded a fumble recovery as a reserve linebacker. He garnered a team-leading 105 tackles as a sophomore, with 11.0 for a loss and 5.5 quarterback sacks in addition to 3 interceptions and 6 pass breakups. After a strong junior year in which he finished third on the team with 61 tackles, Dodson announced that he would forgo his senior year and declare for the NFL draft.

Professional career

Dodson signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent following 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 ...

. Following an incident in Arizona in which he was arrested and accused of domestic violence, Dodson received a six-game suspension after pleading guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges. He was later waived and re-signed to the practice squad upon finishing his suspension. Dodson made his first regular season appearance on September 13, 2020, during a 27–17 win over the

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

. He entered in place of starting middle linebacker

Tremaine Edmunds Fe'Zahn Tremaine Edmunds (born May 2, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 201 ...

, who suffered a shoulder injury, and was himself injured later in the game. Dodson recorded his first career sack during the game, taking down Jets quarterback

Sam Darnold Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he became the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Awar ...

. With Edmunds out the following week 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 pla ...

, Dodson made his first career start. He was placed on injured reserve on October 24, 2020. He was activated on December 12, 2020. Dodson played in 16 games in the 2021 season and recorded 15 tackles. On February 10, 2022, Dodson signed a one-year contract extension with the Bills.

Personal life

Dodson was the first alumnus from Centennial High School to make it into the NFL. He hosted a football camp for the school in 2021.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioTexas A&M Aggies bio
1998 births Living people American football linebackers Players of American football from Tennessee Texas A&M Aggies football players Buffalo Bills players {{Linebacker-1990s-stub