Carlo Kemp (born January 1, 1998) 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 ...

outside 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, ...

for 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 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously played professionally for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

High school career

Kemp was a four-year letterman at Fairview High School. He was a second-team All-Conference selection as a freshman. As a sophomore, he was named to the All-State first-team. In his junior season, he recorded 66 tackles, 20 tackles-for-loss, eight sacks and 11 rushing touchdowns. Following the season he again received first-team All-Conference and first-team All-State honors. As a senior he settled into the outside linebacker position, recording 81 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss, four sacks and one blocked field goal. Following the season he again received first-team All-Conference and first-team All-State honors. He also received

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

's Gold Helmet Award, as Colorado's top high school senior football player, for outstanding play, academics and citizenship. He finished his career with 203 tackles, averaging 5.3 tackles per game, 14 career sacks, and one interception.

Recruiting

Kemp was regarded as the best high school prospect out of the state of Colorado. He received scholarship offers from

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, Boise State,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, Notre Dame,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

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 ...

. After official visits to Colorado, Michigan and Notre Dame, he committed to play for the Michigan Wolverines on November 8, 2015.

College career

Kemp played

for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 2016 to 2020. During his freshman season in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, he made his collegiate debut on September 17, 2016, in a game against

. During his sophomore season in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, he played in all 13 games. He began his career as a linebacker, then following the 2017 season, he became a defensive lineman. During his junior season in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

he appeared in all 13 games, including 12 starts on the defensive line, and recorded 17 tackles. On August 21, 2019, he was named captain for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

season. During his senior season in 2019, he started 12 games and recorded 40 tackles, with 4.5 tackles-for-loss. Following the season he was named third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches. During his fifth-year senior season in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

he appeared in all six games with five starts on the defensive line, and recorded 21 tackles, and three tackles-for-loss, in a season that was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Following the season he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention. Kemp participated in the 2021 Hula Bowl, where he was named Team Aina's Defensive MVP for the contest after he recorded four tackles in addition to a pick six.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

, he signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2021. He was waived by the Packers on August 31, 2021.

Denver Broncos

On December 31, 2021, Kemp was signed by 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 ...

to the practice squad. He was released by the Broncos on January 3, 2022.

Pittsburgh Maulers (USFL)

On February 22, 2022, Kemp was drafted 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Maulers in the

2022 USFL Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

. He led the Maulers with five sacks during the

2022 USFL season The 2022 USFL season is the planned inaugural season of the United States Football League (USFL), and the first by a league of the name since the 1985 season of the previous incarnation of the league. Planned to be played from April 16, 2022 to ...

Los Angeles Chargers

On July 21, 2022, Kemp signed with the

of the NFL. He was waived on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day.

Personal life

Kemp is the nephew of former

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

head coach

Chuck Pagano Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is a former American football coach and player. Pagano spent six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. He also served as the defensiv ...

and

outside linebackers coach

John Pagano John Pagano (born March 30, 1967) is an American football coach and most recently the outside linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans, Oakl ...

. He is the grandson of Sam Pagano, a Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductee and former head coach at Boulder's Fairview High.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Carlo 1998 births Living people American football defensive linemen Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Colorado Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) players Los Angeles Chargers players