Tommy Armstrong Jr. (born November 8, 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 ...

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 ...

for

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston. History First 13 se ...

of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...

(IFL). He played college football as a

for

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Early years

Armstrong was born in

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...

. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the summer of 2005, Armstrong evacuated to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

to live with his younger brother and father.

High school career

Armstrong attended Steele High School in

Cibolo, Texas Cibolo is a city in Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio–New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area. Cibolo voted to become an independent township on October 9, 1965. As of the 2020 census, Cibolo had a popu ...

, a suburb 15 miles northeast of San Antonio. As a senior, he passed for 1,945 yards with 29

touchdowns 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 Amer ...

with two interceptions and rushed for 1,281 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was a four-star recruit by

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. He committed to the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

to play college football.

College career

Armstrong redshirted his first year at Nebraska in 2012. He started his redshirt freshman year in 2013 as the backup to

Taylor Martinez Taylor Todd Martinez (born September 15, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Nebraska. High school career Martinez played his senior year of high school football at Centennial High School in Corona, ...

. Armstrong would end up starting eight games due to injuries to Martinez. Although he started those games, he mostly split time with Ron Kellogg. For the season, he completed 68 of 131 passes for 966 yards, with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 202 yards with two touchdowns. Armstrong started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2014. He completed 184 of 345 passes for 2,695 yards, 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and also rushed for 705 yards with six touchdowns. Armstrong returned as the starter his junior year in 2015. He completed 202 of 402 passes for 3,030 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He also rushed for 400 yards and seven touchdowns. He returned as the starter for his senior season in 2016, starting 11 of the 13 games and missing two games with injuries. He completed 151 of 294 passes for 2,180 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 604 yards and eight touchdowns.

Career statistics

Nebraska rankings

* Career passing Yards, 1st (8,871 yards) * Career passing completions, 1st (625 completions) * Career touchdown passes, 1st (67 touchdowns) * Career total offense, 1st (10,690 yards) * Career 250-yard passing games, 1st (14 games) * Career 300-yard total offense games, 1st (11 games) * Season passing yards, 3rd/5th (3,030 yards in 2015, 2,695 yards in 2014) * Season passing touchdowns, 4th (22 TDs in both 2014 and 2015) * Season passing completions, 5th (222 completions, 2015) * Season total offense, 3rd/4th (3,430 yards in 2015, 3,400 yards in 2014) * Season 300-yard passing Games, 2nd (4, 2015) * Season 250-yard passing Games, 1st-tied (8, 2015) * Season 300-yard total Offense Games, 1st-tied (6, 2015)

College honors, awards, and records

* Davey O'Brien Award Watch List (2016) * Maxwell Award Watch List (2016) * Team Captain (2015) * Foster Farms Bowl Offensive MVP (2015 vs. UCLA) * Rose Bowl Big Ten Player of the Week (Fresno State, 2016) * Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Southern Miss, vs. Michigan State, 2015, at Northwestern, 2016) * Maxwell Award Watch List (2015) * Manning Award Watch List (2015) * Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List (2015) * Honorable-Mention Big Ten All-Freshman Team (BTN, 2013) * Big Ten Freshman of the Week (vs. Michigan, 2013) * Longest Pass in Nebraska History and NCAA Bowl History (99 yards vs. Georgia) * Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall, 2012) * Nebraska Junior Record for Passing Yards in a Season * Nebraska Sophomore Record Holder – passing yards, passing touchdowns, total offense * Nebraska Bowl Game Record Holder – passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing completions, passing attempts, total offense (2014 Holiday Bowl vs. the University of Southern California) * 2016 Tom Novak Trophy * Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2016) * Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2016)

Professional career

As a

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback, also known as a running quarterback, is a quarterback (QB) who possesses the skills and physique to run with the ball if necessary. With the rise of several blitz heavy defensive schemes and increa ...

, Armstrong sought to join the National Football League by changing positions. Prior to the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, Armstrong converted positions to wide receiver. Armstrong was not invited to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

and, despite attracting interest during Nebraska's pro day, was not drafted in the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

. Armstrong was subsequently given a tryout with 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 ...

as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

, but was later asked to sign as a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, a defensive position and one he had not played since high school. Armstrong was not signed by Minnesota following his early May tryout but later signed with the Vikings as a safety on May 30, 2017. He was waived by the Vikings on June 16, 2017. In May 2018, Armstrong signed with Your Call Football. On September 9, 2018, Armstrong announced via his

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account that he had signed with the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team i ...

of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season. However, he went unselected in the 2019 AAF QB Draft. On January 2, 2019, it was announced that Armstrong had signed with the

Nebraska Danger The Nebraska Danger was a professional indoor football team based in Grand Island, Nebraska, and a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was founded in 2011 by Charlie Bosselman as an expansion member of the IFL. The Danger played ...

, an

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

team based in Grand Island, Nebraska. Armstrong's first game was a victory, in which he threw 8 completions on 12 attempts for 158 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 23 yards and another score on three attempts. Armstrong was named the IFL Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in his professional debut. Armstrong played in all 14 regular season games for the Danger, leading them to a playoff berth, finishing with a 7-7 record in 5th place. Armstrong completed 150 out of 251 passes, for 1,799 yards and 37 touchdowns against nine interceptions, was the league leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, with 137 attempts for 720 yards and 26 scores (both single season team records), and served as the holder for field goals and extra points. On June 21, 2019, Armstrong led the Danger to a 45-40 playoff win over the Green Bay Blizzard before suffering a 62-45 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Rattlers. During the playoffs, Armstrong completed 23 of 35 passes for 189 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions, while also rushing for 63 yards and four more scores. Armstrong was named the Indoor Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2019. On October 17, 2019, Armstrong signed with the Sioux Falls Storm.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Tommy 1993 births Living people Players of American football from Texas American football quarterbacks Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Minnesota Vikings players Salt Lake Stallions players Nebraska Danger players Byron P. Steele High School alumni