Former Tennessee Receiver Amari Jefferson to Step Away from Football

Former Tennessee wide receiver Amari Jefferson announced in an Instagram post that he is stepping away from Football following two years of playing at the collegiate level.

He captioned his post ‘Everything and More’ and ‘Goodbye Football’ as well as a heart emoji. The post showed different pictures of him playing football in both high school and college.

He recently announced back on New Year’s Day that he was entering the transfer portal following his one season with the Volunteers. He started his career at Alabama.

Jefferson did not mention anything about his future plans, but he was a very talented baseball player coming out of high school and changed his Instagram profile picture to him playing baseball. In fact, when he first committed to Tennessee in high school (before he eventually flipped to Alabama), he committed to play baseball. When he went to Alabama, he was named as a top 500 incoming freshman by Perfect Game.

Jefferson has since made his Instagram private.

Jefferson’s College Career

Tennessee wide receiver Amari Jefferson (81) during Tennessee football practice, at University of Tennessee, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coming out of high school, Jefferson was a 4-star recruit per On3 Sports in the class of 2024 and was the sixth-best player in the state of Tennessee and the 34th-best wide receiver in the country. He played his high school football at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was named the MaxPreps Tennessee Football Player of the Year as a senior. He and his quarterback, Whit Muschamp, a Vanderbilt signee, dominated the state of Tennessee over the course of their careers.

When his high school career was all said and done, he was a state champion in football, the first in 49 years for the Baylor School, and he won a state title in baseball.

He announced his commitment to Alabama in August 2023. He chose the Tide over Georgia.

He did not play at all his true freshman season at Alabama as he was dealing with an injury. He announced after the season that he was entering the transfer portal and he would eventually commit to Tennessee.

He only played in two games as a redshirt freshman with the Volunteers against East Tennessee State and UAB; however, he did not record a catch or any other stats. Although, there was a lot of optimism for the future with Jefferson. Before the season, Nico Iamaleava (before he transferred) praised Jefferson and more about that can be read here.

Jefferson never really got a chance to showcase his skills in his college football career, but with his talent he will have plenty of future options.