Wilhelm Tye (born November 4, 1991) 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 ...

. 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 ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and Stony Brook, and signed with the

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

in 2015 as an undrafted free agent. Tye was the first player from Stony Brook to reach the NFL and played two seasons for the Giants.

High school career

Originally from

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, Tye was a standout tight end/kick returner at

Xavier High School (Connecticut) Xavier High School is an all-boys college preparatory Catholic high school in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It is run by the Xaverian Brothers. Teenage boys from over 65 towns surrounding and including Middletown attend Xavier; despite ...

in Middletown. Tye then did his final year of high school at

Salisbury School Salisbury School is an all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1901 and located in Salisbury, Connecticut. Its school newspaper is ''The Cupola''. Its mascot is the Crimson Knight. The school's motto is ''Esse quam vider ...

where he was labeled a three-star recruit by Rivals and Scout.com and was recognized as the No. 6 prospect in Connecticut and No. 19 tight end in the nation by the latter.

College career

Tye was recruited to play for the

Florida State University Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

in 2010 before transferring to

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

for the 2013 season. In two seasons as a Seawolf, Tye recorded 79 catches for 1,015 yards and nine touchdowns.

Professional career

New York Giants

After going undrafted in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

, Tye was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. He competed with

Larry Donnell Larry Donnell (born November 1, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football for Grambling State. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Early years Donnell attended Carroll High S ...

Adrien Robinson Adrien Robinson (born September 23, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted in the 4th round (127th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Robinson played football at Warren Ce ...

Daniel Fells Daniel Fells (born September 23, 1983) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at UC Davis and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Fells was also a member of the St. Louis Rams, D ...

and

Jerome Cunningham Jerome Cunningham (born May 25, 1991) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Southern Connecticut State. Professional career After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, Cunningham was invited to the Indianapolis ...

for the tight end job. On September 1, 2015, he was waived by the Giants. On September 7, 2015, he was signed to the Giants' practice squad. On October 3, 2015, the Giants promoted Tye to the active roster. Tye became the first player from Stony Brook to play in the NFL. On December 14 during a Monday Night Football game against the Miami Dolphins, Tye caught his first NFL touchdown from quarterback

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

en route to a Giants victory. In the Giants next game against the Carolina Panthers on December 20, Tye found the endzone again in a Giants loss to the undefeated Carolina Panthers. In the season finale on January 3, 2016, Tye found the endzone again in a Giants loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. For the 2015 season, Tye had 42 receptions for 464 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games played. Following the season, Tye was named to the 2015

PFWA The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...

All-Rookie Team. Going into the 2016 season, Tye still had to prove his worth. He made the final 53-man roster and started the 2016 season on the Giants active roster. Tye's statistics regressed in 2016 as he recorded 48 receptions for 395 yards and only one touchdown. On February 15, 2017, Tye re-signed with the Giants on a one-year deal. On September 2, 2017, the day of final roster cuts, Tye was released by the Giants.

New York Jets

Tye was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

on September 3, 2017. On September 10, Tye made his Jets debut, recording three receptions for 34 yards in the 21–12 loss to 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. ...

. He was released on October 3, 2017.

New England Patriots

On October 12, 2017, Tye was signed to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Patriots on February 6, 2018. On September 1, Tye was waived with an injury designation as part of the roster cutdown, and reverted to the team's injured reserve the next day. He was released on September 6, 2018.

Philadelphia Eagles

On November 13, 2018, Tye was signed to 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 ...

practice squad. Tye signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on January 14, 2019. He was released during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.

Personal life

During his rookie season in 2015, Tye earned the nickname "Baby Gates" because of his admiration of San Diego Chargers tight end

Antonio Gates Antonio Ethan Gates Sr. (born June 18, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers during his entire career in the National Football League (NFL). He was named to the Pro ...

and the fact that Tye and Gates have similar playing styles.

References

External links

New York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tye, Will 1991 births Living people American football tight ends New England Patriots players New York Giants players New York Jets players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Connecticut Sportspeople from Middletown, Connecticut Stony Brook Seawolves football players Florida State Seminoles football players