Tommy Armstrong Jr.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | November 8, 1993 Gulfport, Mississippi |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Cibolo (TX) Steele |
| College: | Nebraska |
| Position: | Safety |
| Undrafted: | 2017 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Tommy Armstrong Jr. (born November 8, 1993) is an American football safety who is currently a free agent. He played college football as a quarterback for Nebraska.
Early years
Armstrong was born in Gulfport, Mississippi.[1] Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the summer of 2005, Armstrong evacuated to San Antonio, Texas to live with his younger brother and father.
High school career
Armstrong attended Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, a suburb 30 miles northeast of San Antonio.[2] As a senior, he passed for 1,945 yards with 29 touchdowns with two interceptions and rushed for 1,281 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was a four-star recruit by Scout.com.[3] He committed to the University of Nebraska to play college football.[4][5]
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. Armstrong would end up starting eight games due to injuries to Martinez.[6] 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.[7] 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 6 touchdowns.[8] He 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 7 touchdowns. He returned as the starter for his senior season in 2016 starting 11 of the 13 games missing 2 games with injuries. He completed 151 of 294 passes for 2,180 yards, 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also rushed for 604 yards and 8 touchdowns. [9]
Nebraska Rankings
- Career Passing Yards, 1st (8,871 yards)
- Career Pass 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 and Awards
- 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 TDs, Total Offense
- Nebraska Bowl Game Record Holder - Passing Yards, Passing TDs, Pass Completions,Pass Attempts, Total Offense (2014 Holiday Bowl vs. USC)
- 2016 Tom Novak Trophy
- Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2016)
- Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2016)
Career statistics
| Season | Games | Games Started |
Record | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | Att | Yards | Pct. | TD | Int | QB Rating | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||||
| 2012 |  Redshirted | |||||||||||||
| 2013 | 9 | 7 | 7–1 | 68 | 131 | 996 | 51.9 | 9 | 8 | 124.3 | 67 | 202 | 3.0 | 2 |
| 2014 | 13 | 13 | 9–4 | 184 | 345 | 2,695 | 53.3 | 22 | 12 | 133.0 | 145 | 705 | 4.9 | 6 |
| 2015 | 12 | 12 | 6–6 | 222 | 402 | 3,030 | 55.2 | 22 | 16 | 128.6 | 98 | 400 | 4.1 | 7 |
| 2016 | 11 | 11 | 8–3 | 151 | 294 | 2,180 | 51.4 | 14 | 8 | 123.9 | 113 | 512 | 4.5 | 8 |
| NCAA Career Totals | 45 | 43 | 30–13 | 625 | 1,172 | 8,871 | 53.3 | 67 | 44 | 128.3 | 423 | 1,819 | 4.3 | 23 |
Professional career
As a dual-threat quarterback, Armstrong sought to join the NFL by changing positions. Prior to the NFL Draft, Armstrong converted positions to wide receiver. Armstrong was not invited to the NFL Combine and, despite attracting interest during Nebraska's pro day,[10] was not drafted in 2017 NFL Draft. Armstrong was subsequently given a tryout with the Minnesota Vikings as a running back, but was later asked to sign as a safety, a defensive position and one he had not played since high school.[11] Armstrong was not signed by Minnesota following his early May tryout but later did sign with the Vikings as a safety on May 30, 2017.[12] He was later waived by the Vikings on June 16, 2017[13]
References
- ^ "Steele QB Armstrong back to key Knights' bid for back-to-back titles". KENS 5. August 26, 2011.
- ^ "Kid from Steele has 'it'". San Antonio Express-News.
- ^ "Scout.com – College Sports, Football Recruiting, NFL, Fantasy Advice & More Front Page". scout.com.
- ^ "Steele's Tommy Armstrong commits to Nebraska football". ESPN.com.
- ^ Brian Christopherson – Lincoln Journal Star. "Texas prep QB Armstrong commits to Nebraska". JournalStar.com.
- ^ "QB Tommy Armstrong takes leadership role for Nebraska". jacksonville.com.
- ^ "Tommy Armstrong, quarterback of Nebraska Huskers, says he's learned from mistakes". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Armstrong facing challenges in junior season". The Grand Island Independent.
- ^ "Tommy Armstrong showing composure as starting Husker quarterback". Omaha.com.
- ^ Kaipust, Rich (March 16, 2017). "Tommy Armstrong's testing at Husker pro day gets notice of Gil Brandt". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Tomasson, Chris (May 7, 2017). "Former Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong says Vikings want to keep him around at safety". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ^ Peters, Craig (May 30, 2017). "Vikings Sign Former Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong as a Safety". Vikings.com.
- ^ Alper, Josh (June 16, 2017). "Vikings waive Tommy Armstrong". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.