In the context of physics and the types of collisions, when a football player tackles another player by grabbing onto them, it would be classified as an inelastic collision.
Inelastic collisions are characterized by the fact that the two objects (in this case, the players) stick together after the collision, and kinetic energy is not conserved. Instead, some kinetic energy is transformed into other forms of energy (like sound, heat, etc.) or used to deform the objects involved. In a tackle, the players end up moving together momentarily, which is a hallmark of inelastic collisions.
On the other hand, elastic collisions are where objects collide and then separate without any loss of kinetic energy. That is not the case in a football tackle.