In the summer of 2017, right before his senior year of high school, Anthony Torres took a trip to Iowa that set the course for his college football career. Seven years later, he could not have predicted where that road would lead him.
As a senior tight end at The University of Toledo last fall, Torres enjoyed a banner season in his seventh and final year as a college football player. But how he ended up at Toledo is a story all its own.
Tight end Anthony Torres was second on the team with nine touchdown receptions this past season and his size and athleticism have him on the NFL Draft board for April’s draft.
It began with a scholarship offer from the University of Iowa, followed by a frustrating senior year of high school football in which he barely played due to a serious back injury. His back problems detoured him to Western Michigan, where he saw limited action over four seasons. Finally, he ended up at Toledo, where in his third season as a Rocket he blossomed into an all-league tight end who earned an invitation to play in the 2025 Hula Bowl on Jan. 11. His steady improvement and athletic skills have put him on the radar of NFL scouts.
“Anthony’s story is unique in so many different ways,” said Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle. “He’s just a very resilient person. He’s been through a lot. He buys into the right things and firmly believes that good things will happen as a result. It’s one thing to believe and another thing to walk your life that way. He certainly does. It’s been fun to watch him have success in all phases of his life and grow as a young man in our program.”
If things had played out differently, Torres might be in his second or third year in the NFL instead of playing for the Rockets. But fate had other plans for him.
Despite his solid 6-foot-6 frame and the fact that he played his high school football just a punt, pass and kick from Notre Dame’s campus (Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana), Torres was overlooked at first by college recruiters. That changed when a strong performance at a summer camp at Ohio State prior to his junior year put him on the recruiting radar. The Buckeyes were interested, and scholarship offers came in from numerous Mid-American Conference schools, including Toledo. The following summer, he had another strong camp at Iowa, which led to a scholarship offer from the Hawkeyes. But some bad news followed him home from Iowa City.
“I knew something was wrong with my back on the last day of the Iowa camp, but I thought it might be OK after I slept,” Torres said. “I slept fine but the next day, I woke up in excruciating pain.”
Torres’ bad back forced him to miss camps at Ohio State and Notre Dame. He ended up sitting out his entire senior year of high school, which also nixed his plan to transfer to IMG Academy in Florida. Iowa honored its scholarship commitment but suggested that it might be wise for Torres to consider other schools, considering the long road of recovery ahead for him and the loaded Hawkeye tight ends room.
“I was crushed,” Torres said. “It was heartbreaking but I decided they were right. It was in my best interest to de-commit and go somewhere else. It was a very humbling experience, a hard pill to swallow at that age. But looking back on it was one of my greatest blessings because I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It shaped me into the man I am today.”
Torres wanted to stay close to home, so it came down to offers from Western Michigan and Toledo. He liked Toledo’s offense and the way the Rocket coaching staff had groomed tight end Michael Roberts into a fourth-round NFL draft pick. But a high school teammate was going to WMU, so he decided to follow him to Kalamazoo.
Torres was hardly an instant success with the Broncos. He spent his first two seasons rehabbing his back, and did not catch a pass in six games of the COVID season of 2020. However, by his fourth season he was 100% healthy and eventually worked his way into the starting lineup, catching 12 passes. But he had bigger dreams for himself and entered the transfer portal.
“Western has a great program,” Torres said. “There are great people there. But it was an RPO offense. If you were a running back or a receiver, that was a perfect offense for you. In that scheme, the tight end is blocking 90% of the time. My dream was to play at the next level, so I felt like with what Toledo did with Mike Roberts, it was a great opportunity for me.”
Within minutes of pressing the enter key to put his name in the transfer portal, he got a call from Toledo. “I took some time in the process but I knew it was Toledo,” Torres said. “Coach Candle uses the tight end in his offense. It’s almost like an NFL offense.”
Torres put up some impressive numbers in 2024, finishing the season with a career-best 31 receptions and nine touchdowns, including a score in Toledo’s dramatic 48-46 six-overtime victory over Pittsburgh in the GameAbove Sports Bowl on Dec. 26. He also is an outstanding blocker — and his size and athleticism have made him an attractive target on the field as well as on the NFL Draft board for April’s draft.
2023 was a big year for Anthony Torres. He married his longtime girlfriend, Taylor, in Colorado in May, and in December he received his M.B.A. in leadership.
Surprisingly, Torres almost did not return to play his final season of college football. He got married to his long-time girlfriend, Taylor, in May 2023, and they planned to begin their life together following the 2023 season; however, a strong season in which he caught 26 passes and earned second-team All-MAC honors changed his perspective. So did Taylor’s support.
“It’s definitely been hard, but I support him 100%,” said Taylor, who is a nurse practitioner back home in Mishawaka and is also going to school for her doctorate in nursing. “This is his dream. We’re making it work, day by day.”
Guiding Torres’ path along his life’s journey has been his strong sense of faith and family.
“Besides my faith, my family is the most important thing to me,” said Torres, who is the middle child with an older brother and a younger sister. “Growing up, my parents did such a good job raising me and my siblings. They gave everything they could to us, more than we needed. It was a very loving family.
“My parents helped me chase after my dreams in terms of providing for me and supporting me in anything I needed. I can’t thank them enough.”
Once his playing days are over, Torres, who received his M.B.A. in leadership in December 2023, said he plans to settle down to a quiet married life with Taylor near both of their parents in Mishawaka. In the meantime, he wants to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL. He is motivated not only by the desire to compete at the highest level of football, but also to provide a better future for his family.
“It’s different for me. I have a wife I have to provide for,” Torres said. “She’s fine on her own but I will always want to provide for my loved ones. So football is not only a passion for me, it’s something that could help us in our future. On those days when I’m tired, it pushes me to go a little harder.
“I need to look at that every day to remind me to keep going, to push through the tough times, he added. “I’m a big person for manifestation. I think when you put it out there, you’re bound to achieve it. At the same time, if I don’t, I still know I gave it my all.”
