He’d already played seven games to in the 2024 NFL season and was starting to emerge as a talented player, but for New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy during, his welcome-to-the-NFL moment didn’t occur until late in the Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It came courtesy of Cameron Heyward, too.
Appearing on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football Friday, Tracy recalled his welcome-to-the-NFL moment by way of Heyward during the Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup at Acrisure Stadium against the Steelers.
Ironically, the moment came late in the game after Tracy had already had a great deal of success on the ground.
“The one I remember is the Steelers. It was a Monday night game, energy was crazy. The atmosphere was live. You got the crazy towels, the Terrible Towels, they’re yelling, and it was Cam Heyward,” Tracy said, explaining his moment welcoming him to the league, according to video via NFL Network. “So I’m doing my inside zone and I’m thinking the gap is there. If you’re a running back, you understand that like the holes is there, until they’re not. And Cam Hayward, he’s two-gapping, so he’s making it look like it’s there. And I try to like hit it in there and this man like hit me so hard.
“He hit me so hard to where I hit my head on the ground and I just kind of had to lay there for a little bit. I needed a moment. I needed a moment just to catch my breath. I understand like, ‘Yeah, I’m in the NFL.’ They’re just a little different.”
Here’s a look at that play Tracy recalled from Heyward.
Not a huge pop from Heyward, but the end zone angle shows that he closed that gap quickly and stopped Tracy in his tracks, taking him to the ground with a thud, causing Tracy to need the assistance of trainers.
This play occurred in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ 26-18 win over the Giants with 4:03 left.
Prior to the play, Tracy had carved up the Steelers, ultimately finishing with 145 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, including a 45-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter that gave the Giants some life.
One play before the rep against Heyward that led to him leaving the game, Tracy ripped off a 6-yard run and was just about it break it loose again before being tripped up by Heyward, ironically.
On the very next play he was looking to continue to run the football down the Steelers’ throats, but Heyward did what he usually does: play sound football against the run, get into the lane and got his big paws on him. That led to Tracy’s welcome-to-the-NFL moment.
After that game against the Steelers, Tracy had just one other 100-yard game (Week 10 against Carolina) and then fizzled out some down the stretch. He had some memorable moments in his first NFL season, and the future looks pretty bright for him in the Big Apple, but he won’t be forgetting that rep against Heyward anytime soon.
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