Kenoy Wayne Kennedy (born November 15, 1977) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

in 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

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft and also played 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 ...

. 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 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

College career

Kennedy signed with Arkansas in the 1996 recruiting class out of Terrell High School in Terrell, TX as a defensive back. He was recruited by then-head coach

Danny Ford Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University from 1978 to 1989 and at th ...

. Kennedy was a back-up at free safety his freshman year in 1996, then earned the starting job in 1997. Ford was fired after the "97 season and

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (19 ...

was hired as the new head coach. Kennedy was a mainstay in the Razorback secondary by 1998, helping Arkansas win a share of the SEC West Division championship. Kennedy earned 2nd Team All-SEC honors for a 9-3 Arkansas squad in "98. In 1999, Kennedy was named to the Coaches Poll 1st Team All-SEC squad, and was again SEC 2nd Team AP. His big-time hits and solid tackling helped the Razorbacks beat the Texas Longhorns in the

2000 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2000 SBC Cotton Bowl Classic game was a post-season college football bowl game that took place on Jan. 1, 2000 in Dallas, Texas. The Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the Texas Longhorns 27–6. The Texas Longhorns finished their regular season 9 ...

on an 8-4 team. It was Arkansas' first bowl victory since 1985 and their first Cotton Bowl win since 1976.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

He was drafted in the second round by the

in 2000 and played five seasons with the team before becoming a free agent in 2005.

Detroit Lions

Kennedy signed with the

in the 2005 offseason. He played three seasons with the team before being released on March 14, 2008.

NFL statistics

References

1977 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football safeties Arkansas Razorbacks football players Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players {{Texas-bio-stub