Joey Galloway


Joseph Scott Galloway is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League and current college football analyst with ESPN. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks eighth overall in the 1995 NFL Draft and also played for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State. He is the NFL's career leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns among players to not be selected for a Pro Bowl.

Early years

Galloway played high school football at Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Ohio During his senior year, he caught 52 passes for 1208 yards and eight touchdowns. He also was an All-Ohio choice in basketball and won the state championship in both the 100 and 200 meter dash in track.

College career

Galloway played college football at Ohio State. While there he earned many honors and finished in the top five all time in many of Ohio State's receiving records. During his junior year, he caught 47 passes for 946 yards and tied Cris Carter with a school record 11 touchdowns. His great play earned him First-Team All-Big Ten Conference honors as a junior. During his senior year, he made 44 receptions for 769 yards and seven touchdowns, and earned Second-Team All-Big Ten Conference. He finished his college career fourth in both career receptions with 108 and receiving yards with 1,494, and second in touchdown receptions behind Cris Carter with 19.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Galloway was selected by the Seattle Seahawks eighth overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact for the Seahawks, setting franchise season records for a rookie with 67 receptions, 1,067 receiving yards and three 100-yard games. He also had success as a punt returner, returning 36 punts for 360 yards and a touchdown.
During his second year he started all 16 games for the Seahawks, leading the team in receptions with 57, receiving yards with 987 and touchdowns with seven. During his third year in 1997 he made 72 receptions for 1,049 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 1998, he reached double digit receiving touchdowns for the second consecutive year with ten. He finished the season with 65 receptions for 1,047 yards.
During the 1999 season he played in only eight games due to a contract dispute and a holdout that reached 101 days. When he came back he made 22 receptions for 335 yards and only one touchdown. Overall, he finished his career with the Seahawks with 283 receptions for 4,457 yards and 37 touchdowns in 71 games.
On February 12, 2000, The Seahawks traded Galloway to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for their first round selections in the 2000 and 2001 NFL Drafts.

Dallas Cowboys

With quarterback Troy Aikman playing his last years and Michael Irvin looking to retire after suffering a career-ending injury in the 1999 season, the Dallas Cowboys were seeking an elite wide receiver to pair with Raghib Ismail and thus turned to the Seattle Seahawks for the rights to Galloway, signing him to a deal that made him the second highest paid wide receiver in the league at the time.
During his first season with the Cowboys, Galloway played in only one game after tearing the ACL in his left knee in the fourth quarter of the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished the game with four receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. The next year, he rebounded from the injury, starting all 16 games and finishing second on the team in receptions with 72 and receiving yards with 699 and first in receiving touchdowns with three.
In 2002, Galloway started all 16 games, making 61 receptions for 908 yards and six touchdowns. In 2003, he started 13 of 14 games, making 34 catches for 672 yards and two touchdowns and led the NFL with a 19.8 yards-per-catch average. He finished his career with the Cowboys with 151 receptions for 2,341 yards and 12 touchdowns. Besides the loss of the two first round draft selections, his contract contributed to the salary cap problems that affected Dave Campo's years as head coach.
On March 19, 2004, the Cowboys traded Galloway to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Keyshawn Johnson.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Galloway suffered a groin injury in the season opener against the Washington Redskins and was inactive for the next six games of the 2004 season, playing in ten games, he made 33 receptions for 416 yards and five touchdowns. After the season, he re-signed with the Bucs.
In 2005, he enjoyed his best season as a professional, catching a career-high 83 passes for 1,287 yards and ten touchdowns. The next year, he started 14 of 16 games, making 62 receptions for 1,057 and seven touchdowns. It was also just the second time in Bucs history that a player had gone over the 1,000 yard receiving mark in back-to-back seasons.
In 2007, he played in 15 games, making 57 receptions for 1,014 yards and six touchdowns, becoming the first player in franchise history to register three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. After starting the first two games, he suffered a foot injury that forced him to miss most of 2008 season, finishing with only 13 receptions for 138 yards. He was released on February 25, 2009. He finished his career with the Buccaneers with 248 receptions for 3,912 yards and 28 touchdowns.

New England Patriots

Galloway signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots on March 14, 2009, as a free agent. Although healthy, he was inactive for Weeks 4-6 of the 2009 season due to a lack of production and difficulty in learning the Patriots offense. He was released on October 20.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 22, 2009, Galloway was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers after wide receiver Limas Sweed was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list. He was not re-signed by the Steelers at the end of the season.

Washington Redskins

Galloway signed with the Washington Redskins on April 28, 2010. He was waived by the team on November 27 and wide receiver Terrence Austin was promoted from the practice squad to replace him. He had 12 catches for 173 yards in 10 games.

NFL statistics

Receiving Stats
YearTeamGamesReceptionsYardsYards per ReceptionLongest ReceptionTouchdownsFirst DownsFumblesFumbles Lost
1995SEA16671,03915.55976611
1996SEA165798717.36574222
1997SEA15721,04914.653125500
1998SEA16651,04716.181104611
1999SEA822335154811700
2000DAL146215.5221400
2001DAL165269913.44735310
2002DAL166190814.98063311
2003DAL153467219.8642200
2004TB103341615.63652500
2005TB16831,28715.580105700
2006TB16621,05717.06474400
2007TB15571,04317.86963710
2008TB91316810.6220600
2009NE37689.6190300
2009PIT000000000
2010WSH101217314.4620900
Career19870110,95015.6817748475

Punt Returning Stats
YearTeamGamesAttemptsYardsTouchdownsFair CatchesLongest Return
1995SEA63636011289
1996SEA1615581588
1998SEA16252512574
1999SEA835402121
2000DAL112004
2001DAL16156006
2002DAL1615110871
2003DAL15201780636
2004TB1020142189
2006TB1523002
2007TB53140010
Career1451411,34954789

Post-football career

In 2012, Galloway joined ESPN as a college football analyst. Galloway co-owned the Arena Football League team Columbus Destroyers from 2003 to 2008.