Kerry Rhodes (born August 2, 1982) is an American actor and 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 risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are ...
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 ...
. He was drafted by 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 ...
in the fourth round of the
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...
, and 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 ...
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 ...
. Rhodes was named to
All-Pro teams by three publications after the
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.
The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh defeating the Miami in t ...
. He played college football at
Louisville.
Early years
Rhodes was born in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, to Jubrella and Jerome Rhodes. He began playing football at nine years old. He was a
starting quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and
honor student
An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grading (education), grades or high marks in their coursework at school.
United States
In the US, honors students may refer to:
# Students recognized for their academi ...
at
Jess Lanier High School
Bessemer is a southwestern suburb of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham- Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, of which Jefferson County is the ...
in
Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer is a southwestern suburb of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham- Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, of which Jefferson County is the ...
. As a junior, he threw more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 500 yards and three scores in 1998; guiding Lanier to a 10-2 record. During his senior season, Rhodes threw for more than 1,600 yards and ran for another 850. He was also selected Metro Player of the year and first-team All-state in
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
of which he led his team to the 6A title game.
College career
In 2000, Rhodes joined
Louisville as a
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
, but was moved to safety Rhodes finished his first season at Louisville with 9 tackles, three pass breakups and an interception. As a reserve in 2002, he had 18 tackles (12 solos), a forced fumble, two pass deflections, a blocked kick and an interception. Rhodes took over as a free safety in 2003 and registered career highs with a sack, 82 tackles (61 solos) and three stops for losses. In 2004, he closed out his college career with 167 tackles (101 solos), a 12-yard sack, 18 pass deflections and 11 interceptions for 106 yards in returns. Rhodes was accorded first-team All-
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
honors that same year.
Professional career
New York Jets
Rhodes was drafted in the 4th round (123rd overall) of the
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...
by the New York Jets. That same year, he beat out
Oliver Celestin
Oliver Celestin, Jr. (born February 25, 1981) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Texas Southern
Texas Southern University (Texas Southe ...
for the starting job at
strong safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
and started in 16 consecutive games in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. In his first professional season, Rhodes recorded 108 total tackles (85 solo), a sack, an interception, 9 pass deflections and a forced fumble.
On September 24, 2006, he made a pivotal play against
J. P. Losman
Jonathan Paul Losman (born March 12, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. Losman played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at UCLA and Tu ...
of the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, stripping the ball from the quarterback's hands and allowing
Shaun Ellis
MeShaunda "Shaun" Pizarrur Ellis (born June 24, 1977), nicknamed Big Katt, is a former American football defensive end who spent the majority of his career with the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footba ...
to return the fumble for a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
. This helped the Jets to a 28-20 victory. He was named
AFC Defensive Player of the Week for week 3. In Week 7, Rhodes intercepted a pass by
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 ...
quarterback
Jon Kitna. In Week 12, during the game against the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
, Rhodes intercepted a pass by quarterback
David Carr in the second half. Following the
2006 season, Rhodes was named to
All-Pro team by 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 ...
.
On April 9, 2008, Rhodes signed an extension with the Jets for five years, for a total of $33.5 million, with $20 million guaranteed.
Arizona Cardinals
On March 6, 2010, Rhodes was traded from 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 ...
to 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 ...
for a
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
4th round draft pick and a
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
7th round pick. Later, his Jets coach
Rex Ryan
Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...
criticized Rhodes in his memoir, saying, "He wouldn't work, and he was a Hollywood type, flashy and needing attention".
Rhodes started and played in all 16 regular season games of the
2010-2011 season for the Cardinals, recording a total of 90 tackles, 78 solo, 12 assists, 1 sack, 12 passes deflected, 4 interceptions returned for a total of 174 yards, longest returned for 66 yards and 4 fumble recoveries. On December 31, 2010, Rhodes was awarded The Lloyd Herberg MVP award for the 2010-2011 season by the Arizona chapter of the
Pro Football Writers Association
The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...
.
In 2011, Rhodes was inducted into the Kentucky chapter of
National Football League Players Association
The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...
Hall of Fame along with
Lou Michaels,
Dale Lindsey,
Rod Hill
Rodrick Hill (born March 14, 1959) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Los Angeles Raiders. After his NFL career he played five seasons with the Win ...
and
Phil Simms.
He finished his
2012 season with 58 tackles, nine assists, four interceptions and two forced fumbles, and was named the fourth best safety in the league by
Pro Football Focus.
Rhodes was released by the Cardinals on March 13, 2013. Rhodes was due to receive $5.5 million for the
2013 season and rejected an offer to restructure the contract at one year and $3 million.
In a February 2014 interview with
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 ...
, Rhodes denied that he was blacklisted by NFL teams. He said his absence from the league was "a product of me wanting to do other things and not finding the right opportunity," referring to his interests in acting and producing, and the amount of money offered.
Personal life
In 2016, it was announced that Rhodes was engaged to Australian actress
Nicky Whelan
Nicky Whelan (born 10 May 1981) is an Australian actress and model known for her role as Pepper Steiger in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''.
Career
Before ''Neighbours'', Whelan hosted a number of shows, including '' Coxy's Big Brea ...
. Rhodes and Whelan were married in Los Angeles on April 15, 2017.
In October 2017, several news sources reported the couple were divorcing.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Kerry
1982 births
Living people
Players of American football from Alabama
African-American players of American football
American football safeties
Louisville Cardinals football players
New York Jets players
Arizona Cardinals players
Sportspeople from Bessemer, Alabama
21st-century American male actors
Bessemer City High School (Alabama) alumni
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people
Ed Block Courage Award recipients