Kevin Givens (born March 1, 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 wi ...

defensive tackle 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 at Penn State.

Early life and high school

Givens was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

and attended

Altoona Area High School Altoona Area High School (AAHS) is the public high school for the Altoona Area School District in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The high school serves the communities of Altoona, Logan Township, and a small portion of Tyrone Township. The school dis ...

, where he played defensive end and fullback on the football team. As a senior he was named first-team All-State on defense and rushed for 317 yards and six touchdowns on offense.

College career

Givens was a member of the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

for five seasons, redshirting his true freshman season. 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 ...

All-Freshman team after making 26 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in his first season. As a redshirt sophomore, Givens recorded 23 tackles with four tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Givens finished his redshirt junior season with 33 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. After the season Givens, who had already completed his undergraduate degree, announced that he would forgo his final season in order to enter the 2019 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Givens signed with the

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 ...

on April 28, 2019. He was waived at the end of training camp during final roster cuts, but was re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 1, 2019. The 49ers promoted Givens to the active roster on December 28. Givens reached

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

with the 49ers, who were defeated by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

by a score of 31–20. In Week 7 against the New England Patriots in 2020, Givens recorded his first career sack on

Jarrett Stidham Jarrett Ryan Stidham (born August 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). After transferring from Baylor, he played college football at Auburn and was selected by the New E ...

late in the fourth quarter during the 33–6 win. Givens was placed on a roster exemption on December 12, 2020, and was reinstated to the active roster five days later. On September 25, 2021, Givens was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on October 30. On March 10, 2022, Givens re-signed with the 49ers.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Givens, Kevin 1997 births Living people American football defensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of American football from Pennsylvania San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from Altoona, Pennsylvania