# Tony Scheffler

Tony Scheffler (born February 15, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football and baseball for the Western Michigan Broncos. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft.
Scheffler also played for the Detroit Lions during his NFL career.

## Early life

Scheffler played at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, Michigan, where he played high school football. He set a school record for receiving yards in a season with 1,340 and finished the 2000 season with 67 receptions and 16 touchdowns playing wide receiver. He committed to play college football and baseball at Western Michigan University

## College career

Scheffler attended Western Michigan University and had 117 receptions and 1,345 receiving yards with 13 touchdowns in his career. He finished his career ranked second among tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards in school history. He was also a two-time first team all-Mid-American Conference selection, and as a senior placed fourth in voting for the John Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end, posting a career-high 57 receptions for 670 yards (11.8 avg.) with nine touchdowns.

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 6 ft 5+3⁄8 in (1.97 m) | 254 lb (115 kg) | 33+1⁄4 in (0.84 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.60 s | 1.64 s | 2.71 s | 4.01 s | 6.81 s | 33.5 in (0.85 m) | 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) | 17 reps |
| All values from NFL Combine ||||||||||||

### Denver Broncos

Scheffler was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. After seeing limited playing time early in the season, Scheffler saw increased playing time and production after Jay Cutler was inserted as the Broncos starting quarterback on December 3, 2006, against the Seattle Seahawks. In a game against the San Diego Chargers on December 10, Scheffler caught his first NFL touchdown from a pass by Cutler. After the following kickoff was fumbled, Scheffler caught another touchdown, 48 seconds after his previous one.
On May 19, 2007, Scheffler broke his left foot in seven-on-seven passing drills during practice. The injury caused Scheffler to miss much of training camp, the setback kept Scheffler out of his place in the lineup as the Broncos pass receiving tight end until October 21, 2007, against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Scheffler finished the season among league leaders of tight ends with 49 receptions for 549 yards and five touchdowns.
Following the 2007 season, Scheffler, Cutler and Marshall went to Atlanta together to train and work on timing for the 2008 season.
On April 14, 2010, Scheffler was re-signed to a one-year contract.

### Detroit Lions

On April 19, 2010, Scheffler was traded to the Detroit Lions in a three-team trade involving the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles received linebacker Ernie Sims, and the Broncos got the Eagles fifth-round draft pick for 2010 (137th overall). The Lions also received Denver's seventh-round draft pick for 2010.
On October 22, 2013, Scheffler was released by the Lions after suffering his third concussion in four years earlier in the month.
On June 11, 2014, Scheffler announced his retirement, citing the concussions he sustained as a key reason. He signed three contracts during his career and subsequently earned $12,194,000 in his eight-year career in the NFL.

## Personal life

After his retirement, Scheffler became a real estate agent in Chelsea, MI, volunteered as a coach for the Chelsea High School football team, and purchased a ranch in Texas to raise Texas Longhorns.
On September 28, 2013, Scheffler competed in a 2 on 1 basketball game vs Dave Portnoy and Daniel "Big Cat" Katz of Barstool Sports. Despite Scheffler having a big lead the entire game, Portnoy's hot shooting earned the Barstool bloggers a comeback 11–10 victory. After the loss, an irate Scheffler refused to shake hands and punted the basketball into a dense forest. On August 23, 2023, Scheffler appeared on Big Cat's podcast, Pardon My Take, and aired his frustration with the continual discussion of this basketball game. They made plans for another event which has yet to be announced.
In 2020 he became coach of the Chelsea High School girls varsity basketball team. He was named a district coach of the year in 2023, and resigned in 2024.

## NFL career statistics

Legend :
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2006 | DEN | 13 | 5 | 37 | 18 | 286 | 15.9 | 29 | 4 |
| 2007 | DEN | 16 | 7 | 65 | 49 | 549 | 11.2 | 41 | 5 |
| 2008 | DEN | 13 | 7 | 61 | 40 | 645 | 16.1 | 72 | 3 |
| 2009 | DEN | 15 | 9 | 50 | 31 | 416 | 13.4 | 52 | 2 |
| 2010 | DET | 15 | 4 | 72 | 45 | 378 | 8.4 | 25 | 1 |
| 2011 | DET | 15 | 5 | 43 | 26 | 347 | 13.3 | 36 | 6 |
| 2012 | DET | 15 | 4 | 85 | 42 | 504 | 12.0 | 57 | 1 |
| 2013 | DET | 5 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 82 | 11.7 | 22 | 0 |
| | | 107 | 42 | 425 | 258 | 3,207 | 12.4 | 72 | 22 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2011 | DET | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| | | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |