Mychal Rivera

Against Ole Miss, he caught a 26-yard pass on a 3rd-and-13 to keep a critical drive alive.

His season-best was 3 catches for 29 yards against Memphis.

Mychal Rashawn Rivera (born September 8, 1990) is a former American football tight end.

Though he lived in Valencia, California, he played high school football for Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, where he caught 21 passes for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns as a senior in 2007 to help lead the Patriots to a 13–1 record and the West Valley League championship.

He was rated a 3-star prospect, and ranked the 39th overall tight end by Rivals.com for the 2007 class.

Rivera initially signed with Oregon for the 2008 season.

After he was asked to move to offensive line by Ducks coach Chip Kelly he requested and received a release from his scholarship.

For the 2009 season, he played for the College of the Canyons, a junior college in Santa Clarita, catching 32 passes for 316 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In January 2010, Rivera committed to the Tennessee Volunteers, having been drawn to the school by the emphasis on tight ends in the offensive scheme of newly hired head coach Derek Dooley.

He played in all 13 games in the 2010 season, collecting 11 catches for 112 yards.

Rivera started all 12 games for the Volunteers in 2011.

He caught 29 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown, placing third among SEC tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards.

Against Florida, he had 5 catches for 71 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown reception.

He caught 5 passes for 85 yards against Georgia.

Named to the Pre-Season All-SEC Third-team prior to the 2012 season, Rivera started in 10 of 12 games.

He caught 36 passes for 562 yards and 5 touchdowns, breaking the single-season team record set by Jason Witten for most receiving yards by a tight end, and joining Reggie Harper as one of two Tennessee Volunteers tight ends with more than 1,000 career receiving yards.

Rivera caught 4 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown against Florida.

He caught 3 passes for 82 yards against Georgia, including a career-long 62-yard reception.

Against Missouri, he caught 10 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown.

Following the season, he was named All-SEC by both CBSSports and the SEC coaches, and All-SEC Second-team by the Associated Press.

He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Rivera was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of George and Yolanda Rivera.

He is of Puerto Rican, African American, and German descent.

The Oakland Raiders selected Rivera in the sixth round (184th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Rivera was the 11th tight end drafted in 2013.

He was the second tight end drafted by the Raiders in 2013, behind Nick Kasa who was selected in the sixth round (172nd overall).

He began his rookie season as the backup tight end behind Jeron Mastrud and caught two passes for 26-yards in a season opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

On September 29, 2013, against Washington, he caught his first career touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Matt Flynn.

The following week, Rivera earned his first career start against the San Diego Chargers.

On November 17, 2013, he caught a season-high five passes for 54 receiving yards and caught his second touchdown pass on a 26-yard pass from Matt McGloin.

Rivera suffered a concussion following a helmet-to-helmet hit by Michael Griffin in the Raiders' loss to the Tennessee Titans on November 24, 2013.

He finished his first season with 38 catches for 407 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns while starting 3 games and appearing in all 16 regular season contests.

Rivera began his second season as the starting tight end but shared the role throughout the year with David Ausberry.

In the season opener against the New York Jets, he caught three passes for 31 yards.

After an 0–4 start, head coach Dennis Allen was fired and Tony Sparano was named the interim head coach.

On November 2, 2014, Rivera finished a loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a career-high 8 receptions for 38 receiving yards and caught his first two touchdown passes of the season from rookie quarterback Derek Carr.

The following week against the Denver Broncos, he caught 6 passes for 64-yards and a touchdown during the Raider's 17–41 loss.

On December 7, 2014, Rivera caught 7 passes for a career-high 109 receiving yards and a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers.

He finished his second season with 58 catches, 534 receiving yards, and 4 touchdowns in 10 starts and 16 regular season games.

The Oakland Raiders finished 3–13 in 2014.