David Tyree's catch and his weird career
The above image is a photo of David Tyree's iconic catch vs the Patriots in Super Bowl that won the game. But the thing is, he shouldn't have even been there.
David Tyree was 23 coming into the 2003 NFL draft out of Syracuse.
At Syracuse, he had 1214 yards for 6 touchdowns. In four years. Not one. Four. And apparently that was enough to get him drafted in the sixth round of an NFL draft.
David Tyree had 4 years in the league before The Catch.
In 2003, he caught 16 of his 31 targets for 211 yards and... zero touchdowns.
In 2004, he would catch 10 of his only 17 targets for 155 yards and a touchdown. That's an insane 15.5 yards PER RECEPTION.
In 2005, he didn't start a game, and only caught 5 of his 9 targets for 52 yards and a touchdown.
The craziest part of his 2005 season?
HE GOT NAMED TO THE PRO BOWL.
2006, one year before The Catch, he had his best year yet, catching 19 of his 33 targets for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Yes, TWO. Another one.
And now it's 2007. During the regular season, he caught 4 of his 5 targets for 35 yards and no touchdowns.
Which adds a more insane part to this story.
He didn't start a singular regular season game and only played in 12 of them.
In the 2007 playoffs, he only had one reception so far.
But in the Super Bowl, he had 3 catches for 47 yards and 1 touchdown, and, of course, the helmet catch we all hopefully remember to this day.
In 2008, he was sidelined due to a knee injury for a season's length.
Guess who he signed with in 2009?
You guessed wrong (unless you're Flame) because it's the Baltimore Ravens.
In 2009, he caught 0 of his 0 targets for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.
Then he retired.
And it closed out one of the most impactful but unimpactful careers.
