Kenny Willekes (born July 22, 1997) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Early years

Willekes attended NorthPointe Christian High School in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. He played

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

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 ...

in high school. He had 423 tackles during his

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 ...

career.

College career

Willekes joined

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

in 2015. He redshirted his first year and played in one game in 2016. In 2017, Willekes became a starter, starting 12 of 13 games. He finished the season with 72 tackles and seven sacks. In 2018, he was named the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confer ...

after recording 78 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Willekes returned to Michigan State his senior year in 2019 rather than enter the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. During the season he broke

Julian Peterson Julian Thomas Peterson (born July 28, 1978) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He pl ...

's school record for career tackles for loss. He was named the 2019 recipient of the Burlsworth Trophy on December 9, 2019, in

Springdale, Arkansas Springdale is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, fourth-largest city in Arkansas, United States. It is located in both Washington County, Arkansas, Washington and Benton County, Arkansas, Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. Located on th ...

, during a reception hosted by the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation in conjunction with the Springdale Rotary Club at the Springdale Convention Center.

Professional career

Willekes was selected by the

with the 225th pick in the seventh round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on September 2, 2020. On August 31, 2021, Willekes was waived by the Vikings and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on January 8, 2022. On June 2, 2022, Willekes was waived/injured by the Vikings and placed on injured reserve.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioMichigan State Spartans bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willekes, Kenny 1997 births Living people People from Rockford, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football defensive ends Michigan State Spartans football players Minnesota Vikings players