Byron native Tyler Elsbury just spent the past weekend trying to prove to the Seattle Seahawks that he belongs in the NFL.
Now it’s back to the “waiting game,” he said Tuesday, just as he was getting back to Byron from his long weekend in Renton, just outside Seattle, at the Seahawks rookie minicamp. Seahawks’ coaches promised to call him “in a week or two” to let him know whether he’s with the team for the rest of the summer, or whether he’s going to have to try and find a different route into the league.
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“That was the only minicamp that I was guaranteed, so now it’s just a little bit more of the waiting game, and then we’ll see,” said Elsbury, who went from Byron to the University of Iowa, where he had a successful career playing multiple positions on the offensive line. “I feel like I did a good job, though. I think I’m going to get the call that they want me back.”
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Elsbury didn’t hear his name called during the NFL Draft last month, which was the easiest path to his dream of playing his sport professionally. But he got that phone call right after the draft ended, which is, everybody knows, the next best thing.
He had been talking or texting with Seattle and multiple other NFL teams during and right after the draft, but he and his agent chose the Seahawks. Now it comes down to whether or not Seattle chooses to stick with Elsbury.
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If not, he and his agent have been in touch with a couple of Canadian Football League teams as a backup plan.
Tyler Elsbury, the former Byron and University of Iowa standout, worked out with the other offensive linemen during the Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp from May 1-3.
“You just never know what’s going to happen, but that’s part of the game,” Elsbury said. “The Saints have been talking to us, and the Texans, too, so we’ll see… I just want to stay ready no matter what happens.”
Quarterback Jalen Milroe from Alabama was the most popular player of the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp. But Elsbury just wanted to fit in.
There is no pads or contact at minicamp, which makes it even tougher for lineman to stand out. And, Seattle drafted three offensive linemen: first-rounder Grey Zabel, sixth-rounder Bryce Cabeldue and seventh-rounder Mason Richman. And there were 14 linemen at the rookie minicamp, which made it even harder for the undrafted free agents like Elsbury.
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But Elsbury thinks he did what he had to do.
“It’s not just physical stuff on the field. You have to learn that playbook that they give you, and you have to know it,” Elsbury said upon returning from camp. “Everyone here is a top-level athlete, so you have to find a way to step it up. You have to do all the little things right, too.
“We’ll see if I did.”
Former Byron and University of Iowa offensive lineman Tyler Elsbury was invited to, and participated in, the Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp from May 1-3, 2025.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: How did Byron’s Tyler Elsbury do at Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp?