Aaron James Klein (born July 30, 1991) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
who is a free agent. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
Iowa State
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
. He was drafted by the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
in the fifth round of the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...
.
High school career
Klein attended
Kimberly High School where he was a letterman in football and track. His
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team went 37-1 during his career. He led team to back-to-back Division II state championships in his final two seasons. He recorded 121 tackles, five sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a senior, and his career included 287 tackles, 17 sacks and two interceptions.
In
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
, Klein competed as a
sprinter in spring of 2008. During the indoor season, he competed in the
55-meter dash 55 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field. The history of the event lies in the 60-yard dash, which is about 5 inches shorter than 55 metres. Since the 1960s almos ...
and recorded a personal-best time of 7.01 seconds at the Oshkosh HS Invite. He competed in the
100-meter dash
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...
during the outdoor season, earning a 5th-place finish at the WIAA Regional with a time of 11.8 seconds.
Considered a three-star recruit by ''
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
'', he accepted a scholarship offer from Iowa State over offers from
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...
,
Western Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...
and
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
.
College career
![AJ Klein Iowa State](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/AJ_Klein_Iowa_State.jpg)
While attending
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
, Klein was a member of the
Iowa State Cyclones football
The Iowa State Cyclones football program is the intercollegiate football team at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The team is coached by Matt Campbell. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference, and are a Division I Football Bowl Subdi ...
team from 2009 to 2012. He played in every game as a true freshman finishing the season with 17 tackles, and also caused and recovered a fumble. He played in 12 games, starting 10, as a sophomore, and finished second on the team in tackles with 111, including eight for loss. He also had three interceptions (returning 2 for touchdowns), four pass deflections, and a fumble recovery. In 2011, he started in all 13 games, recording 116 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, seven pass deflections, six pass break ups, and an interception (returned for a touchdown). He was named
Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
Co-Defensive Player of the Year and earned
All-Big 12 first-team honors. In his senior season, he recorded 117 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack, three pass deflections, two pass break ups and an interception (returned for a touchdown). He earned
All-Big 12 first-team honors once again.
Professional career
Carolina Panthers
The
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
drafted Klein in the fifth round (148th overall) of the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...
. Klein was the 16th linebacker drafted in 2013.
![Saints vs Panthers 12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Saints_vs_Panthers_12.6.15_044.jpg)
On May 23, 2013, the Carolina Panthers signed Klein to a four-year,
$2.35 million
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
that includes a
signing bonus
A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...
of $191,300.
2013
Throughout training camp, Klein competed against Chase Blackburn,
Jordan Senn
Jordan Senn (born June 11, 1984) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Portland State. Senn also played for the Carolina Panthers and Chi ...
,
Jason Williams, and
Doug Hogue for a role as the primary backup outside linebacker. Head coach
Ron Rivera
Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962), nicknamed "Riverboat Ron", is an American football head coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He attended the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1980 ...
named Klein the backup strongside linebacker, behind
Thomas Davis, to begin the regular season.
He made his professional regular season debut during the
Carolina Panthers' season-opening 12–7 loss against the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
. On November 10, 2013, Klein earned his first career start after
Chase Blackburn
Chase Wyatt Blackburn (born June 10, 1983) is a former American football coach and former linebacker who is the special teams coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the New York Giants as an ...
was ruled inactive due to a foot injury he sustained the previous week. Klein collected a season-high five solo tackles and made his first career sack during their 10–9 victory at the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
in Week 10. Klein sacked 49ers' quarterback
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt dur ...
for a 14-yard loss during the second quarter. He finished his rookie season in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
with 21 combined tackles (18 solo) and two sacks in 16 games and two starts.
2014
During training camp in 2014, Klein competed against Chase Blackburn to be a starting outside linebacker. Head coach Ron Rivera named Klein and
Thomas Davis the starting outside linebackers to begin the regular season, alongside middle linebacker
Luke Kuechly
Luke August Kuechly (; born April 20, 1991) is an American former professional football middle linebacker who played all eight seasons of his career with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He is generally recognized a ...
. In Week 4, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles during a 38–10 loss at the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
. Klein was inactive for the last two games (Weeks 16–17) due to an ankle injury. He finished the
2015 NFL season
The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL), and the 50th in the Super Bowl era. To celebrate the 50th season of the Super Bowl, a gold-plated NFL logo and other various gold-themed promotions w ...
with 39 combined tackles (25 solo) in 14 games and eight starts.
The
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
finished the 2015 NFL season first in the
NFC South
The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...
with a 7–8–1 record, but Klein was inactive due to his ankle injury as they reached the NFC Divisional Round where they were defeated 31–17 at the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
.
2015
Klein entered training camp slated as the starting weakside linebacker, but saw competition from rookie first round pick
Shaq Thompson
Shaquille Green Thompson (born April 21, 1994) is an American football outside linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington. He also had a short stint with the Boston Red ...
. Head coach Ron Rivera named Klein the backup weakside linebacker, behind Shaq Thompson, to begin the regular season. On September 20, 2015, Klein started at middle linebacker after Luke Kuechly was inactive due to a concussion he sustained the previous week. He recorded four combined tackles, one pass deflection, and made his first career interception as the Panthers defeated the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
24–17 in Week 2. Klein intercepted a pass by Texans' quarterback
Ryan Mallett
Ryan Mallett (born June 5, 1988) is a former American football quarterback who is currently the head football coach at White Hall High School in White Hall, Arkansas. He played college football at Arkansas, and was drafted by the New England ...
, that was intended for tight end
Garrett Graham
Garrett Graham (born August 4, 1986) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Wisconsin and was selected by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Early years
Graham attended Brick Memorial ...
, and returned it eight yards during the fourth quarter. In Week 3, he collected a season-high ten combined tackles (six solo) during a 27–22 win against the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
. Klein was inactive for the Panthers' Week 6 victory at the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
after suffering a concussion during a Week 4 victory at the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
. Klein finished the season with 55 combined tackles (39 solo), one pass deflection, one sack, and one interception in 15 games and six starts.
On February 7, 2016, Klein was part of the Panthers team that played in
Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...
. In the game, the Panthers fell to the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
by a score of 24–10.
2016
During Week 10 of the 2016 season, All-Pro starting linebacker Luke Kuechly was severely concussed and did not play the rest of the season. Kuechly's injury thrust Klein into a starting role for the Panthers. In his seven starts, Klein made 16 solo tackles, assisted on 13 more and registered one sack.
New Orleans Saints
On March 9, 2017, Klein signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
. He suffered a groin injury in Week 14 and was placed on injured reserve on December 19, 2017. He started the first 12 games of 2017, recording 54 tackles, two sacks, and four passes defensed.
Buffalo Bills
On March 27, 2020, the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
signed Klein to a three-year, $18 million contract that included $11.30 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.20 million. The signing reunited Klein with Buffalo Bills' head coach
Sean McDermott
Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, ...
, who previously coached Klein as the Carolina Panthers' defensive coordinator.
Klein was plugged into the starting lineup due to a nagging injury to
Matt Milano
Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College.
College career
Milano attended and played college footb ...
. Despite struggling throughout much of the first half of the season, Klein had a breakout game against the heavily favored
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
, sacking
Russell Wilson
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...
twice, including a strip sack which he also recovered that all but sealed a 44–34 win for Buffalo.
In Week 10 against the
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...
, Klein recorded a team high 10 tackles and sacked
Kyler Murray
Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M, Murray played college football at University of Okl ...
once during the 32–30 loss. In Week 12, following a bye in Week 11, playing at home against the
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
, Klein recorded another team high in tackles with 14. He also added a sack and three tackles for a loss on rookie
Justin Herbert
Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon, where he won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and was named ...
, on the way to a 27–17 Bills victory.
Klein was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 12.
Klein was released by the Bills on March 8, 2022.
New York Giants
On October 3, 2022, the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
signed Klein to their practice squad.
Baltimore Ravens
On October 6, 2022, the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
signed Klein to their active roster off the Giants practice squad.
Chicago Bears
On October 31, 2022, Klein, a 2023 second round pick, and a 2023 fifth round pick was traded to the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
for
Roquan Smith
Roquan Daevon Smith (born April 8, 1997) is an American football inside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia. Smith became the first Georgia Bulldog to win the Butkus A ...
. Klein was waived by the Bears on November 16, 2022.
Buffalo Bills (second stint)
On November 17, 2022, Klein was claimed off waivers by the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
References
External links
*
New Orleans Saints bioIowa State Cyclones bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, A J
1991 births
Living people
American football linebackers
Iowa State Cyclones football players
Sportspeople from Appleton, Wisconsin
Players of American football from Wisconsin
Carolina Panthers players
New Orleans Saints players
People from Kimberly, Wisconsin
Buffalo Bills players
New York Giants players
Baltimore Ravens players
Chicago Bears players