Kerry Hyder Jr. (born May 2, 1991) 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 wi ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

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 for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

High school career

Hyder played linebacker and defensive end for Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Austin, TX. Hyder was ranked as a 3-star prospect by

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 held offers from Cincinnati, Iowa State, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas Tech, Toledo, and Utah.

College career

Hyder accepted a scholarship offer to play for

in 2009 and redshirted his freshman season. In his redshirt freshman season in 2010, Hyder played in 11 games, and logged 13 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. In 2011, Hyder started all 12 games for the Red Raiders and logged 42 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. The 2012 season proved to be Hyder's breakout year with four organizations naming him to preseason All-Big 12 Conference lists. Hyder concluded the season with All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

honors from

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, prod ...

, the '' Austin-American Statesman'', the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'', and

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 ...

, among others. Hyder's senior season in 2013 began with pre-season All-Big 12 Conference listings by several organizations, as well as listings on the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...

, Bronko Nagurski Award and

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

watchlists. Hyder's senior season concluded with several All-Big 12 conference selections. Hyder logged 65 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 2 blocked kicks, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery. He finished his college career with 49 games (41 starts), 176 tackles, 11 sacks, 10 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.

Professional career

New York Jets

On May 11, 2014, the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

signed Hyder to a three-year, $1.53 million contract as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

after he was not selected during the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. His contract included a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $4,000. He was released on August 30, 2014 and signed to the team's practice squad a day later.

Detroit Lions

Hyder was signed to a reserve/future contract on January 6, 2015. Hyder did not make the final 53 man roster out of training camp but was resigned to the practice squad after clearing waivers. In the offseason before the 2016 season, Hyder shed 35 pounds and transitioned to

. He was promoted to the active roster on January 2, 2016. After recording three sacks in the Lions final preseason game in 2016, Hyder made the Lions 53-man roster. In the first game of the regular season, Hyder recorded two sacks on

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

quarterback

Andrew Luck Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. One of the most highly touted amateur prospects during his c ...

as the Lions won 39-35. Hyder recorded 1.5 sacks in Week 2. After an ankle injury to all-pro defensive end

Ezekiel Ansah Ezekiel Nana "Ziggy" Ansah (born May 29, 1989) is a Ghanaian professional American football defensive end who is a free agent. Born in Accra, Ghana, he moved to the United States to attend Brigham Young University, where he played college footbal ...

, Hyder made his first career NFL start on September 25, 2016 against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3, recording another sack. Hyder was nominated as the pre-game Gruden Grinder before a Monday night tilt with the Dallas Cowboys by broadcaster

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

on December 26, 2016. Hyder finished his breakout 2016 season with eight sacks, leading the Lions in both sacks and tackles for loss. Hyder was named the 2016 Detroit Lions Media-Friendly "Good Guy Award" winner by members of the Pro Football Writers Association and Detroit Sports Media Association. In the Lions first 2017 preseason game, Hyder suffered a torn Achilles, ending his 2017 season. He was placed on injured reserve on August 15, 2017. On March 10, 2018, the Lions re-signed Hyder to a one-year contract extension.

Dallas Cowboys

On March 18, 2019, the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

signed Hyder to a one-year, $1 million contract that included $300,000 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $100,000. In week 7 against 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 ...

, Hyder recovered a fumble lost by

Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Wentz played college football at North Dakota State, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS nat ...

in the 37–10 win. He was a backup, appearing in all 16 games, while posting 19 tackles (2 for loss), one sack, 19 quarterback pressures and one fumble recovery.

San Francisco 49ers

On March 25, 2020, the

signed Hyder to a one-year, $1.50 million contract that included $550,000 guaranteed. In Week 12 against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, Hyder recorded two sacks on

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he set the Pac-12 Conference season records for passing ...

and recovered a fumble lost by Goff during the 23–20 win. He ended the season with a career high 8.5 sacks.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 25, 2021, the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

signed Hyder to a two-year, $6.80 million contract, that includes $3.65 million guaranteed and a

of $2.55 million. He was released on March 18, 2022.

San Francisco 49ers (second stint)

On March 24, 2022, Hyder signed a one-year contract with the

. On April 17, 2023, Hyder re-signed with the 49ers on a one-year contract.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyder, Kerry Living people 1991 births American football defensive ends Players of American football from Austin, Texas African-American players of American football Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Detroit Lions players New York Jets players Dallas Cowboys players San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players 21st-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients