He was selected by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL draft after playing college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

During his high school career, McElroy won several awards including being named an EA Sports All-American and winning a Texas 5A state championship for Southlake Carroll.

[2] In 1998, when he was 10 years old, his father was hired by the Dallas Cowboys to oversee sales and marketing for the franchise, and the family moved to Southlake, Texas.

[3] McElroy attended Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, Texas, playing football under head coach Todd Dodge.

[13] After his redshirt freshman year, McElroy saw limited playing time behind second-year starting quarterback John Parker Wilson.

He played part of a game versus Western Carolina, throwing his first collegiate touchdown pass in the third quarter to tight end Nick Walker.

[17] In the following game versus Arkansas, McElroy threw his first career interception early in the fourth quarter, which Razorback freshman cornerback Ramon Broadway returned to the Alabama 34-yard line.

With a slow start, in which McElroy completed just two of his first ten passes including an interception,[22] the Tide were down 16–17 at halftime.

However, he led the Crimson Tide to 18 points in the final quarter, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to running back Mark Ingram II, as Alabama downed the Hokies 34–24.

With another slow start,[30] Alabama eventually pulled away as McElroy completed a 3-yard pass for a touchdown to Colin Peek in the final minute of the first half.

[35] In the Third Saturday in October versus Tennessee, the Volunteers defense shut down Alabama's offense, keeping them from scoring a touchdown.

[36] On November 7, he helped Alabama clinch their second straight SEC West title as the team faced #9 LSU.

In the third quarter, he threw his lone touchdown of the game on a 17-yard high pass to Colin Peek to extend the lead to 26–13.

[45][46] McElroy led the Crimson Tide to the 2010 BCS National Championship Game versus the undefeated Big 12 Conference champions Texas Longhorns at the Rose Bowl.

[50] McElroy led the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 10–3 record including a 49–7 win over Michigan State in the 2011 Capital One Bowl.

9 ranking nationally heading into their grudge match with in-state rival Auburn in the annual Iron Bowl event.

[52] The regular season ended on a sour note on November 26 as McElroy led Alabama to a 24–7 halftime lead only to give out and narrowly fall behind in the 2nd half.

He nearly led the Jets to victory; however, rookie wide receiver Michael Campbell dropped the game-winning pass in the end zone.

[70] In the Jets' final preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, McElroy left midway through the second quarter with a thumb injury having completed 3 of his 6 pass attempts for 29 yards.

[73] McElroy made his NFL debut on December 2, 2012, in the third quarter during the Jets' contest against the Arizona Cardinals, replacing incumbent Mark Sanchez who, prior to being benched by head coach Rex Ryan, had thrown three interceptions.

McElroy threw his first and only career touchdown pass to Jeff Cumberland on the first play of the fourth quarter en route to a 7–6 victory.

[75] In his only career start against the San Diego Chargers, McElroy completed 14-of-24 passes for 185 yards with an interception and lost a fumble.

[76] McElroy, who was expected to start the Jets' final game against the Buffalo Bills, was ruled out after revealing he had suffered concussion symptoms in the days preceding.

Beginning with the 2017 College Football season, McElroy began hosting Thinking Out Loud on the SEC Network with former LSU defensive end Marcus Spears.

In 2021, McElroy and Cole Cubelic were named co-hosts of the morning show on WJOX, a sports talk radio station in Birmingham, Alabama.