AJ Tarpley Stanford Cardinal Game Worn & Signed Gray and Black Nike Gloves

Description

AJ Tarpley is a free agent linebacker most recently playing for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was signed by the Bills shortly after the 2015 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent. The linebacker played his college ball for the Stanford Cardinal.

Tarpley was a 6-1, 215-pound high school senior when he won Minnesota Gatorade Football Player of the Year as an all-state linebacker and tight end before arriving on campus in Palo Alto. He took a redshirt his first year (2010) before seeing significant playing time as a redshirt freshman in 2011, appearing in all 13 games while starting seven at inside linebacker, finishing with 57 total tackles, 28 solo, 4 TFL, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one INT. In his second and third seasons Tarpley took on more of a leadership role, starting 25 games and finishing with 159 total tackles, 90 solo, 12 TFL, 3 sacks, two forced fumbles and eight passes broken up.

Entering his fifth season the underrated Tarpley was named a team captain and took over for Shayne Skov as the leader in the middle of the defense. He was on the Bednarik Award watch list before the season and wound up finishing the year earning All-Pac-12 second team honors. Tarpley finished his career with very impressive numbers in 45 starts: 300 total tackles, 159 solo, 16.5 TFL, 5 sacks, two forced fumbles, eight PBUs and three INTs.

The Bills were a great fit for Tarpley because he was able to learn from one of the best defensive minded coaches, Rex Ryan, in the league. The Bills also traded away LB Kiko Alonso and needed to bulk up their LB crew. They also decided not to draft an inside linebacker so, it looks like Tarpley was a target for the Bills all along (not to mention the fact of how quickly they signed him, less than an hour after draft). Tarpley joined a relatively young group of LBs and was an integral presence in the middle and as a special teams contributor.

Less than three years after announcing his retirement, Tarpley returned to football in 2019 when he joined the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football. In the third game of the 2019 AAF season against the San Antonio Commanders, Tarpley intercepted Logan Woodside and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. He was subsequently named AAF Defensive Player of the Week. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Tarpley later joined the XFL, where he was selected by the DC Defenders in the open phase of the 2020 XFL Draft. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020

The featured gray and black Nike Superbad XL Gloves were game worn by AJ Tarpley as a member of the Stanford Cardinal. The former team captain has signed the Gloves and added “Game Worn” to the right one in black. The Gloves were obtained directly from AJ Tarpley!!!