Jimmy Kennedy (American football)

Infobox NFLactive


name=Jimmy Kennedy
|width=200
caption=
currentteam=Jacksonville Jaguars
currentnumber=73
currentpositionplain=Defensive tackle
birthdate=birth date and age|1979|11|15
birthplace=Yonkers, New York
heightft=6
heightin=4
weight=320
debutyear=2003
debutteam=St. Louis Rams
college=Penn State
draftyear=2003
draftround=1
draftpick=12
pastteams=
* St. Louis Rams (2003-2006)
* Denver Broncos (2007)*
* Chicago Bears (2007)
* Jacksonville Jaguars (2008-present):*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
status=Active
highlights=
* First Team All-American (2002)
* 2x All-Big Ten (2001, 2002)
* Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year (2002)
* Lombardi Award finalist (2002)
nfl=KEN437436

Jimmy Wayne Kennedy (born November 15, 1979 in Yonkers, New York) is an American football defensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the St. Louis Rams 12th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State. Kennedy has also been a member of the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears.

Early years

Kennedy attended Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, where he was a three-year starter on both offense and defense. Under Coach Tony DeMatteo, Kennedy earned All-American, All-city, All-conference, All-state, and team MVP honors. He also won a local High School Heisman trophy sponsored by the Downtown Athletic Club. In Kennedy's junior season, Roosevelt High was 12-0 and won the state championship. In his three years as a starter the team was 30-3. After his senior season of 1998 Kennedy played in the Governor's Bowl, in which the best prep players of New York played the best high school players in New Jersey.

College career

A four-year starter at Penn State University, Kennedy was named the 2002 Big Ten Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year and was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection. A semi-finalist for the Lombardi Award, Kennedy finished his career with 213 tackles, 14 sacks, and 39 tackles-for-loss. Kennedy also played basketball for the Nittany Lions for one year. He earned a Bachelor of Science in rehabilitation services in 2002.

In his freshman season Kennedy played in 12 games, starting 6, and recorded 33 tackles and batted away 4 passes. In 2000, as a sophomore, Kennedy started all 11 games for Penn State and recorded 42 tackles and 6 sacks. As a junior, in 2001, he made 51 tackles and logged 1.5 sacks and was voted All-Big Ten for the first time.

As a senior in 2002 Kennedy was named a First-team All-America by "The Sporting News", and Walter Camp Football Foundation, "The NFL Draft Report", and third-team honors from the Associated Press. He recorded 87 tackles, 5.5 sacks and batted away 3 passes in 2002.

Measurables

*Penn State 2003 Pro Day
*Height:6'4" Weight: 323 lbs.
*40 yard times: 5.20, 5.22 and 5.25
*Vertical jump:30"
*Long jump: 8'3"
*Short shuttle: 4.72
*3 cone drill: 8.06
*225 pound bench press: 23 reps

Professional career

The 6'4", 320 lb. defensive tackle was the first round pick (#12 overall) of the St. Louis Rams in the 2003 NFL Draft. On July 30, 2003, Kennedy signed a 5-year $9 million contract that included a $5 million signing bonus. [ [http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1142736 Footballs Future.com] ] With two defensive tackles, Ryan Pickett and Damione Lewis, taken in 2001, Kennedy played 13 games but did not make a start his rookie season, and made only 1 tackle, 1 assist, and 1 pass batted.

The following year, Kennedy played in the final 9 games of the season, starting 5 of them. During this time, he posted 16 tackles and one pass defensed. Kennedy started both postseason games where he registered nine tackles and one sack. On January 8, 2005 he recorded two tackles and one sack. He tracked down Matt Hasselbeck for a six-yard loss in the last minute of the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 27-20 win.

By 2005, Kennedy had earned a spot as the Rams' nose tackle, played in 15 games and started the first 9 games of the season. With a chance to finally play, Kennedy made a respectable 33 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. On September 18, 2005, he posted four tackles with two sacks of Kurt Warner along with first career forced fumble.

In 2006 Kennedy started all 16 games at nose tackle for the Rams for the first time in his career and recorded 39 tackles, one sack, one pass defensed, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries

Kennedy was traded to the Denver Broncos on June 8, 2007, for a 6th round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. On September 1, 2007, the Broncos released him. On December 11, 2007 the Chicago Bears signed the former St. Louis defensive tackle and played in the final 3 games of the season making 3 tackles. On March 4, 2008 the Bears declined to match a one-year $655,000 offer sheet by the Jacksonville Jaguars. [ [http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=Nfl&id=396 Rotoworld.com] ]

External links

* [http://www.jaguars.com/Team/Player.aspx?id=2786 Jacksonville Jaguars bio]

References