Tyrone Bernard Calico (born November 9, 1980) 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 ...

wide receiver in 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 ...

. In

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

, he was the starting receiver for

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

College career

Calico made 65 receptions during his freshman season and finished third single season receptions in school history. As a sophomore, he had 47 catches for 752 yards with three touchdowns. On October 28, 2000, Calico caught three passes for 89-yards and two touchdowns during a 61-35 loss to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. During the game, Calico made a one-handed 42-yard reception on the sideline as he was covered by three defenders including

Fred Smoot Fredrick Smoot (born April 17, 1979) is a former American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for Mississippi State University, and was recogniz ...

. He was able to split the defenders and raced down the sideline for a touchdown. This catch was voted the best catch of the 2000 season and an old painting depicting the catch is hung in the college football hall of fame. As a junior, he had 37 catches for 583 yards with five touchdowns. He bounced back as a senior with 45 catches for 606 yards with four touchdowns.

Professional career

Calico accepted his invitation to the 2003 Senior Bowl and helped the North defeat the South 24-21. He attended the NFL Combine and was impressive after running the 40-yard dash in times ranging from 4.34-4.42. This greatly raised his draft stock and NFL analyst Gil Brandt projected him to be a first round pick in the upcoming draft, with the possibility of going to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

at 28th overall. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, the majority of scouts and NFL draft experts projected him to be a second round pick. He was ranked the seventh best wide receiver prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. The

selected him in the second round (60th overall) of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. He was the highest selection taken from Middle Tennessee State. Calico was also the 19th player ever drafted from Middle Tennessee State. He recorded four

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in his rookie season. After a knee injury caused by an illegal

horse-collar tackle The horse-collar tackle is an American football maneuver in which a defender tackles another player by grabbing the back collar or the back-inside of an opponent's shoulder pads and pulling the ball carrier directly downward violently in order to ...

from Roy Williams, he was cut by the Titans after 2005. On May 13, 2008, he was signed by the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

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 ...

. He was released in June 2008. In July, 2021, Calico was honored with a 99 Overall card in Madden 21’s online game mode Madden Ultimate Team.

Notes and references

External links

Player Bio at nfl.com
1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Orange County, California People from Millington, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee American football wide receivers Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players Tennessee Titans players Players of American football from California {{widereceiver-1980s-stub