Ty Nsekhe

Professional career

Nsekhe began his professional career in the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2009 when he was selected for the Corpus Christi Sharks. He played in the AFL from 2009-2012. In the summer of 2012, he came to the attention of the Indianapolis Colts. He was selected by the Colts as a free agent on August 1, 2012. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams on the active roster on September 2, 2012. Nsekhe was later released to the Rams' practice squad on September 27, 2012 and released by the team on August 31, 2013. Nsekhe has played in 6 of 8 regular season games for the Redskins in 2015, making first career start vs the Jets.

Corpus Christi Sharks

In 2009, he signed with the Corpus Christi Sharks of the AF2.

Dallas Vigilantes

He signed with the Dallas Vigilantes of the Arena Football League.

Philadelphia Soul

On March 1, 2011, he was signed by the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League.

San Antonio Talons

On April 26, 2012, he signed with the San Antonio Talons of the Arena Football League.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 1, 2012, He signed with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League after the team released OT Ben Ijalana. On September 1, 2012, He was released.

St. Louis Rams

On September 2, 2012, he was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Rams. On September 27, 2012, he was released after team claimed Joseph Barksdale off waivers. On September 29, 2012, He was signed to the team's practice squad. On August 31, 2013, he was released.

New Orleans Saints

On January 6, 2014, the New Orleans Saints signed Nsekhe to a reserve/futures contract. The Saints released Nsekhe on August 25, 2014, then placed on the injured reserve list after clearing waivers. On September 9, 2014, the Saints waived Nsekhe from injured reserve list on a no-recall basis.

Montreal Alouettes

Nsekhe was signed to the Montreal Alouettes' practice roster on October 4, 2014.

Washington Redskins

On February 10, 2015, Nsekhe signed with the Washington Redskins. He was waived by the Redskins on May 4.

Los Angeles KISS

On May 6, 2015, Nsekhe was assigned to the Los Angeles KISS.

Second stint with Redskins

On May 11, 2015, Nsekhe re-signed with the Washington Redskins. Nsekhe was the swing tackle for the Redskins in 2015, getting two starts at left tackle and some playing time at right tackle.

Nsekhe served as the Redskins' swing tackle again in 2016 and even started four games at left tackle in place of the suspended Trent Williams.

On February 28, 2017, Nsekhe re-signed with the Redskins.

Social Media Controversy

On September 23, 2013, Nsekhe was the subject of a controversy after he responded to a tweet originally written by Morgan Reed and retweeted by actor and model Daniel Bostic whom Nsekhe follows. The tweet read, "Hard to believe that a player in a helmet defendin’ a football makes more money than a soldier in a helmet defendin’ his country." “It doesn’t take much skill to kill someone,” Nsekhe answered. Bostic responded quoting Nsekhe and adding "The epitome of ignorance." Although Nsekhe's tweet was deleted, the story went viral, eventually moving from blogs to the mainstream media. On September 24, the Rams issued a statement rejecting Nsekhe's expressed opinion and emphasizing that he had no connection with the team after having been released on August 31. Nsekhe also issued his own apologies via Twitter.

Social Activities/Contributions

During Thanksgiving of 2016, Ty Nsekhe, a Dallas, TX Metroplex, resident, met with Dallas police officers and their families who had been impacted by the shootings that occurred a day after Castile’s death. He gave away tickets for the Thanksgiving game, between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins and received some nice feedback afterward from those that attended.

“I’m not looking at sides, I’m just looking at victims of violence that’s uncalled for,” Nsekhe said. “Me, as a person living on this earth, I’m just doing my part to be socially responsible, and the platform that I have, hopefully somebody can take heed from my example.”

During Christmas of 2016, Ty Nsekhe visited Tyson’s Corner mall and did Christmas shopping for Dae-Anna Reynolds, daughter of Diamond Reynolds, who was Philando Castile’s girlfriend, to spread some Christmas cheer as the holiday approaches. “There’s a lot of eyes on the actions that I do, on and off the field,” Nsekhe said. “Hopefully, I’m trying to lead by example. Hopefully I’m doing my part. Hopefully somebody looks at it and they’re saying ‘hey, maybe I can do something, too.’”

Dae-Anna, just five years old, was in the backseat of Castile’s car on July 6, when a police officer shot and killed her father in Falcon Heights, Minn., outside of St. Paul, during a traffic stop. Diamond recorded the encounter on Facebook Live, which sparked immediate outrage and protests. Wanting to lift Dae-Anna’s spirits, Nsekhe reached out to the Redskins public relations team to see if there might be a way to help the family through what will be the first Christmas without her dad.

“It’s just about the time of year. It’s really a time to give back any way you can,” Nsekhe said. “I just look at the situations that took place this past year. I just thought about that situation specifically because that’s a little girl who witnessed a real traumatic event. It’s unfortunate. So I just felt like, maybe instead of her having a lasting memory of that traumatic event, maybe brighten up her holiday season.”

Ty Nsekhe also plans to make a donation to the Castile’s Memorial Fund, a scholarship fund set up by Castile’s mother, to provide more financial support. In the midst of the racial tension in this country, Nsekhe knows that these acts of kindness are the best way to use his platform in the NFL.