Introduction
Tegray Rene Scales (born May 10, 1996) is an American football outside linebacker who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Indiana.
Early years
Scales attended Colerain High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a three-year football and four year wrestling letterman. Following his senior year at Colerain, Scales was an Associated Press Division I state co-defensive player of the year, Southwest District defensive player of the year and the Greater Miami Conference co-defensive player of the year and was nominated for the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Recruiting
Scales received offers from Minnesota, Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Marshall, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Western Michigan. He committed to Indiana on January 19, 2014.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tegray Scales OLB |
Cincinnati, Ohio | Colerain High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 206 lb (93 kg) | Jan 19, 2014 | |
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 32 (OLB), 4 (OH OLB) Rivals: 34 (OLB) ESPN: 62 (OLB), 35 (OH) | ||||||
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College career
Freshman year
Scales started all 12 games for the Hoosiers as a freshman, recording 46 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 interceptions. His first interception came against North Texas, while his first sack was on Missouri Tigers' quarterback Maty Mauk, in the Hoosiers first victory against a ranked opponent since 2006. Scales was named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week for his performance against Missouri.
Following the 2014 season, Scales was named to the 247Sports.com True Freshman All-American Team, the Scout.com 2014 Freshman All-America Second Team, and the BTN.com and 247sports.com All-Big Ten Freshman teams.
Sophomore year
Scales was one of a group Hoosier players suspended for the 2015 opener against Southern Illinois for disciplinary reasons, and he was the only member of the group to remain suspended for Indiana's second game against Florida International. Scales was selected as the IU Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in week 3 against Wake Forest. Scales played in 9 of Indiana's 12 regular season games for the 2015 season, as well as played in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl. He recorded 53 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 interceptions during the regular season.
Junior year
Scales recorded 123 tackles, 7 sacks and 1 interception for the 2016 season, including being selected as the Foster Farms Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. On November 29, 2016, Scales was named Third Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and Second Team All-Big Ten by the media.
Senior year
On January 9, 2017, Scales announced that he would return to the Hoosiers for his senior season. On May 17, 2017, Scales was named one of 42 players to the 2017 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List.
Professional career
Los Angeles Rams
Scales signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2018. He was waived on August 31, 2018.
Indianapolis Colts
On December 18, 2018, Scales was signed to the Indianapolis Colts practice squad. He was released on December 31, 2018.
Pittsburgh Steelers
On January 4, 2019, Scales signed a reserve/future contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was waived on August 31, 2019.
Dallas Renegades
Scales was selected by the Dallas Renegades in the ninth round of the 2020 XFL Draft. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On October 13, 2020, Scales was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad. He was released on October 27.
Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)
On November 11, 2020, the Steelers signed Scales to their practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 12 and December 21 for the team's weeks 14 and 15 games against the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was signed to the active roster on December 26, 2020. He was waived on January 9, 2021, and signed a reserve/futures contract with the team on January 14. He was waived on August 14.
Cleveland Browns
On August 25, 2021, Scales signed with the Cleveland Browns. Scales was waived by the Browns on August 31, 2021.
NFL career statistics
| Regular season | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | TD |
| 2020 | PIT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Personal life
Tegray is the son of Herman Scales and Kathy Wilkerson.