Erron Quincy Kinney (born July 28, 1977) is an American former college and professional
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 ...
player who was a
tight end
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...
in 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) for six seasons during the early 2000s. Kinney 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 ...
for the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, and thereafter, he played professionally for the
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
of the NFL.
Early life
Kinney was born in
Ashland, Virginia
Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census.
Ashland is named after the Lexi ...
in 1977.
[Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players]
Erron Kinney
Retrieved September 3, 2010. He attended
Patrick Henry High School in Ashland,
[databaseFootball.com, Players]
Erron Kinney
. Retrieved September 3, 2010. where he played for the Patrick Henry Patriots high school football team.
[GatorZone.com, Football History, 1999 Roster]
. Retrieved March 24, 2011. Among his Patriots teammates was
Damien Woody
Damien Michael Woody (born November 3, 1977) is a former American football offensive guard who played for the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Boston ...
, future lineman for the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
. Kinney and Woody were members of the 1994 Patriots football team that won the Virginia high school football state championship.
College career
Kinney accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
in Gainesville, Florida,
[ where he played for coach ]Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...
's Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...
team from 1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
to 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 85, 98, 99, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. The Gators coaching staff redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
ed him as a true freshman in 1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, but he was a varsity letter
A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.
Description ...
man for the 12–1 1996 Gators team that defeated the Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...
in the Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
to win the Bowl Alliance
The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game match ...
national championship.[ Kinney finished his college career with thirty-nine ]reception
Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to:
Astrology
* Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...
s for 507 yards and five touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s.[
While attending the University of Florida, Kinney majored in elementary education.
]
Professional career
The Tennessee Titans selected Kinney in the third round (68th pick overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft
The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...
, and he played for the Titans from to .[ In 2005, he had a career year hauling in fifty-five ]reception
Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to:
Astrology
* Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...
s for 543 yards.[National Football League, Historical Players]
Erron Kinney
Retrieved September 3, 2010. Kinney suffered a knee injury in training camp prior to the 2006 season, and was released by the Titans in March 2007. He finished his seven-year NFL career with 178 receptions for 1,750 yards (an average of 9.8 yards per reception) and ten touchdowns.[
]
Life after football
Interested in fire safety since childhood, on July 28, 2008, Kinney was sworn in as a firefighter
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
in the fire department of the Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
suburb of Brentwood. In 2004, Tennessee governor
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...
appointed him to a seven-year term with the Tennessee State Firefighting Commission, an organization that tests and certifies firefighters in the state.[Charles Booth, "Former Titan now Brentwood firefighter," ''The Tennessean'' (July 29, 2008).] Kinney was a captain with the St. Andrews Fire Department in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. He was hired as the first fire chief for the City of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Fire Department on March 12, 2013. In 2015 he resigned from Mt Juliet. On July 1, 2017 he was appointed chief of the Sherborn, Massachusetts fire department. On September 10, 2019, Kinney was selected to be the Fire Chief for the town of Norfolk, MA.
He conducts a youth football camp at Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on ...
in Nashville, Tennessee every summer.
See also
* Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
* Florida Gators football, 1990–99
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division ...
* History of the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are the professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Previously known as the Houst ...
* List of Florida Gators in the NFL Draft
The Florida Gators football program is a college football team which represents the University of Florida. The Florida Gators compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), an ...
References
Bibliography
* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .
* Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). .
* Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). .
* McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). .
* Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinney, Erron
1977 births
Living people
American football tight ends
Florida Gators football players
Florida Gators men's basketball players
Tennessee Titans players
People from Ashland, Virginia
Players of American football from Virginia
American men's basketball players