Kenny Demens (born February 4, 1990) 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 ...

. He most recently played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

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 spent the 2013 on the Cardinals practice squad, after playing his

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 ...

senior season in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team. He was a 2011 honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference selection and the 2011 team leader in

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

. In 2014, he began the season on the active roster. He had a season-ending injury in 2015 and was cut in 2016.

High school

Detroit Country Day reached the 2007

Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...

Division 4 State Championship game at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

. Demens recorded 11

in the game. Demens was regarded as the 23rd, 23rd and 35th best

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

linebacker in the country as a senior by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

, respectively. Rivals also ranked him as the eighth best high school football player in the state of Michigan.

College

Demens saw action as a true freshman in three games under first-year

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Uni ...

for the 2008 Wolverines. Demens became a starter in the October 16 game against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and by the end of the season he recorded 10 tackles or more four times. He posted 12 tackles (5 solo and 7 assists) against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

on October 30, 10 tackles (5 solo and 5 assists) against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on November 6, a career-high 13 (5 solo and 8 assists) against

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 ...

on November 20, and a career-high-tying 13 tackles (9 solo and 4 assists) against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

in the January 1, 2011 Gator Bowl. Under new first-year

Brady Hoke Brady Patrick Hoke (; born November 3, 1958) is an American football coach in his second stint as the head coach at San Diego State University. He was previously the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014. Hoke grew up in O ...

, Demens led the 2011 Wolverines in tackles and recorded his first three (2 solo and 2 assists)

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s. His solo sacks came against Northwestern on October 8 and

on November 12. He recorded ten or more tackles three times. He posted 12 tackles (8 solo and 4 assists) in the

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

against Notre Dame on September 10 in the first night game played at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

, 10 tackles (5 solo and 5 assists) against Northwestern on October 8 and 11 tackles (3 solo and 8 assists) against

on November 5. He was an honorable mention 2011 All-Big Ten Conference selection by both the coaches and the media for the 2011 team. Demens led the team and finished among the conference leaders in tackles/game (7.2, t-13th). He was named the 2011 winner of The

Roger Zatkoff Roger Zatkoff (March 25, 1931 – November 4, 2021) was an American professional football player and businessman. A native of Hamtramck, Michigan, Zatkoff played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1950 to 1952 and was selected ...

Award as the team's top linebacker.

Professional career

On April 29, 2013, following the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

, Demens signed an undrafted free agent contract with the

for 3 years and $1,485,000. Demens survived the final roster cuts to make the 53-man roster, but when the Cardinals were awarded two waiver claims, they released Demens to make room on the roster. Although the Cardinals had three

inside 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 ...

s on the roster —

Karlos Dansby Karlos Montez Dansby (born November 3, 1981) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football for Auburn University and received All-American recognition. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round ...

Jasper Brinkley Jasper Jerrell Brinkley (born July 12, 1985) is a former American football middle linebacker. He played college football for the University of South Carolina. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of 2009 NFL Draft. He has a ...

and rookie

Kevin Minter Kevin Christopher Minter (born December 3, 1990) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU, where he earned firs ...

— they added Demens to the practice squad. In 2014, he began the season on the team's official active roster. Demens was lost for the season after an October 11

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

for the 2015 Cardinals against 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 ...

. Demens was cut by the Cardinals prior to the 2016 season.

Notes

External links

Demens
@

NCAA.org The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Demens
@

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

Demens Michigan BioDemens
@

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demens, Kenny 1990 births Living people American football linebackers Detroit Country Day School alumni Arizona Cardinals players Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan