Codey McElroy


Codey McElroy is an American football tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He played college football at Southeastern Oklahoma State. He also played college baseball at Cameron University and the University of Texas and professionally in the Atlanta Braves organization and college basketball at Oklahoma State.

Early life in high school

McElroy grew up in Frederick, Oklahoma and attended Chattanooga High School in Chattanooga, Oklahoma, where he played baseball and basketball and had to give up playing football as the school was a small western Oklahoma town that had never played the sport. He was a preseason All-State selection in basketball as a senior and averaged 18.7 points per game before suffering a season ending injury after 14 games. In baseball, he hit.578 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs and 52 RBIs and was named first team All-State and a First Team All-American by Louisville Slugger.

College and professional baseball career

McElroy started out playing junior college baseball at Eastern Oklahoma State College, where he batted.276 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 59 games. Following the season, he transferred to the University of Texas for his sophomore year. He started 16 games at shortstop, but batted.161 and opted to transfer to Division II Cameron University in order to be closer to home. In his only season with the Aggies, McElroy hit.318 with seven home runs and a team leading 31 RBIs and was named first team All-Lone Star Conference. He was drafted in the 19th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft by the Atlanta Braves at the end of the season. After batting.242 with the Rookie League Danville Braves McElroy was promoted to the Class-A Rome Braves towards the end of the 2014 season and batted.217. He decided to walk away from baseball after batting.168 through 32 games played the next season with Rome.
Following the end of his baseball career, McElroy enrolled at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater to finish his college coursework. He joined the men's basketball team as a walk-on, playing five minutes over four games and no points scored in his only season. McElroy spent a year as an assistant baseball coach at Wichita State University before deciding to enroll at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in order to prepare for a career in the oil industry. He also walked on to the football team as a tight end despite not having played since middle school, catching 14 passes for 173 yards and five touchdowns in nine games.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

McElroy was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent on May 15, 2018 after participating in a rookie tryout. He was waived by the Rams during final roster cuts.

Dallas Cowboys

McElroy was signed by the Dallas Cowboys on March 11, 2019. He was originally place on injured reserve during training camp, but was waived with an injury settlement on September 4, 2019.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

McElroy was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad on October 30, 2019 after working out for the team earlier in the season. The Buccaneers promoted McElroy to their active roster on December 19, 2019. McElroy made his NFL debut on December 21, 2019 against the Houston Texans, catching a 30 yard pass from Jameis Winston for his first career reception.