Kenneth Gainwell (born March 14, 1999) 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

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 ...

for

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Early life and high school

Gainwell grew up in

Yazoo City, Mississippi Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's m ...

and attended

Yazoo County High School Yazoo County High School (YCHS) is a public high school in unincorporated Yazoo County, Mississippi, near Yazoo City Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the F ...

. He was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Panthers. As a junior, he passed for 1,184 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 1,292 yards and 20 touchdowns. During the summer going into his senior season Gainwell committed to play college football at

over offers from Ole Miss and

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. As a senior, he passed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns and ran for 1,834 yards and 32 touchdowns. Gainwell was named Class 3A Mr. Football as he led the Panthers to a 14–1 record and an appearance in the Class 3A state championship game. Gainwell finished his high school career with 3,682 yards passing and 32 passing touchdowns and 4,730 rushing yards and 75 rushing touchdowns with one kickoff returned for a touchdown.

College career

Gainwell moved to running back during summer training camp and played in four games as a true freshman before deciding to

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the rest of the season. He finished the season with four carries for 91 yards and a touchdown, a 73-yard run, and six receptions for 52 yards. As a redshirt freshman, Gainwell was named the Tigers' starting running back following the departure of

Tony Pollard Tony Pollard may refer to: *Tony Pollard (archaeologist) (born 1965), British archaeologist *Tony Pollard (American football) Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National ...

. He was named the co-

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(AAC) player of the week after rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown and gaining 204 yards and scoring two touchdowns on nine receptions on October 19, 2019, in a 47–17 win over Tulane. He rushed for 1,459 yards with 13 touchdowns on 231 carries and caught 51 passes for 610 yards and three touchdowns and was named the AAC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-AAC. He was named a second-team All-American by the ''

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'' and the

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and the National Freshman of the Year by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. Gainwell opted out of his final college season six days before the season opener after multiple family members died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Professional career

Gainwell was selected in the fifth round (150th overall) by the

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 ...

. Gainwell was happy to be drafted by Philadelphia, as he grew up an Eagles fan, and his favorite player while growing up,

Darren Sproles Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983) is an American football executive and former running back and return specialist who is a personnel consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football a ...

, works for the team as a consultant. Gainwell also said that he modeled his game after Sproles. He signed his four-year rookie contract with Philadelphia on June 3, 2021. Gainwell found moderate success as a rookie, as he ended the year with 68 carries for 291 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 33 receptions for 253 yards and one touchdown. Gainwell appeared in 16 games as a rookie, as he was a healthy scratch for the Eagles' week 11 showdown 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 ...

. In the 2022 season, Gainwell had 53 carries for 240 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 23 receptions for 169 receiving yards. In the team's 38-7 Divisional Round victory over 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 had 10 carries for a career high 112 yards and a touchdown, as well as one reception for nine yards. This performance made him just the sixth Eagles player to rush for at least 100 yards in a postseason game. Gainwell helped the Eagles reach

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII is the upcoming championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 NFL season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be the fourth Super B ...

where they lost 38-35 to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. In the Super Bowl, Gainwell had seven carries for 21 rushing yards and four receptions for 20 receiving yards.

Personal life

Gainwell's younger brother, Kory, played defensive back and running back at Yazoo County and is committed to play at Memphis. Gainwell is the cousin of fellow Eagles player Fletcher Cox.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioMemphis Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gainwell, Kenneth 1999 births Living people American football running backs Memphis Tigers football players Players of American football from Mississippi People from Yazoo City, Mississippi Philadelphia Eagles players