Kene Nwangwu (born February 9, 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Professional career

Nwangwu was drafted by the

in the fourth round, 119th overall, of 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 ...

. On May 15, 2021, he signed his rookie contract with Minnesota, worth $4.23 million with a $752K signing bonus. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2021. He was activated on October 19. His first NFL touchdown was a 98 yard kick-off return for a touchdown versus 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 ...

in Week 9, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Three weeks later in Week 12 against the San Francisco 49ers, Nwangwu returned another kick for a touchdown, this one being 99 yards. On Thanksgiving night 2022, in Week 12 against the New England Patriots, he had another kickoff return for a 97 yard touchdown, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bio

Iowa State Cyclones bio
1998 births Living people Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex People from Frisco, Texas American football running backs Iowa State Cyclones football players Minnesota Vikings players {{runningback-1990s-stub