Kelvin Anthony Sheppard (born January 2, 1988) is a former

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 ...

and coach who is the inside linebackers coach for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 was drafted 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. ...

in the third round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. 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 ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

The

selected Sheppard in the third round (68th overall) of the

Indianapolis Colts

On April 29, 2013, Sheppard was traded to the

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 ...

for

Jerry Hughes Jerry Ray Hughes Jr. (born August 13, 1988) is an American football defensive end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU, where he was twice recognized as a consensus All-American before ...

. He played in 15 games with seven starts in 2013, recording 46 tackles and one sack. On August 30, 2014, Sheppard was released by the Colts.

Miami Dolphins

On September 8, 2014, Sheppard signed with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. In 2015, Sheppard played in all 16 games with 13 starts, recording a career-high 105 tackles.

New York Giants

On April 11, 2016, Sheppard signed with 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. ...

. He played in all 16 games, starting 10, recording 50 tackles and two passes defensed.

Chicago Bears

On August 18, 2017, Sheppard signed with 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 ...

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

New York Giants (second stint)

On November 7, 2017, Sheppard signed with the Giants. Sheppard recorded his first and second career interceptions on December 31, 2017, during Week 17 when he picked off

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...

twice.

Detroit Lions

On October 31, 2018, Sheppard was signed by the

LSU Tigers

Sheppard was named director of player development at LSU in March 2020. He replaced Kevin Faulk who held the position prior to Sheppard.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

Sheppard was hired by the Detroit Lions as the team’s outside linebackers coach on February 3, 2021. In 2022 he went from coaching the outside linebackers to the entire linebackers unit.

Personal life

Sheppard is the first cousin of

wide receiver,

Dwayne Harris Dwayne Lenard Harris (born September 16, 1987) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at East Car ...

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioLSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Kelvin 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football linebackers LSU Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Indianapolis Colts players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Chicago Bears players Detroit Lions players Detroit Lions coaches Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)