Kevin Patrick McDermott II (born January 12, 1990) 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 ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

. 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and signed with 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 ...

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 ...

in 2013.

Early years

McDermott was born and raised in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He was a member of the charter class at Ensworth High School from 2005-2008.

College career

McDermott enrolled at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 2008 as a walk-on tight end. In 2011, he was awarded a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

by then UCLA head coach

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

upon winning the long snapping job. During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, he started 28 straight games, played in two Pac-12 title games and two bowl games (2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and 2012 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl). While at UCLA, McDermott majored in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and minored in Film and Television.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

On May 7, 2013, McDermott signed with the

as an

following the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. He started in all 16 regular season games and three playoff games, including the 2013 NFC Championship against 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 ...

. McDermott was released during final cuts before the 2014–2015 season.

Baltimore Ravens

On October 20, 2014, McDermott signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

after incumbent long snapper

Morgan Cox Morgan Cox (born April 26, 1986) is an American football long snapper for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Tenness ...

tore his ACL. He played in seven regular season games before being placed on Injured Reserve.

Minnesota Vikings

On April 3, 2015, McDermott signed a two-year contract with 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 ...

. On August 8, 2016, he signed a four-year extension with the Vikings. In Week 16 of the 2017 season, McDermott suffered a dislocated shoulder and was placed on injured reserve on December 30, 2017. In Week 4 of the 2018 season, McDermott lost the tip of his left pinky finger in an opponent's face mask. He finished the game and played the rest of the year. On August 11, 2019, McDermott was released by the Vikings after the team drafted Austin Cutting.

Personal life

McDermott is married to Lauren, a published author and UCLA alum. His father, Kevin Sr., played basketball at

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

from 1971–1974. His mother, Deborah, was inducted into the

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...

Hall of Fame in October 2013. His younger brother

Conor Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other hero ...

, a former starting left tackle for the UCLA football team, was drafted by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the sixth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

and is currently a member of the New England Patriots . McDermott is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In 2018, McDermott graduated with his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

Kelley School of Business The Kelley School of Business (KSB) is an undergraduate and graduate business school at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. , approximately 7,500 full-time undergraduate and graduate students are ...

. McDermott is also a certified pilot.

References

External links

UCLA Bio

San Francisco 49ers Bio

Baltimore Ravens Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Kevin 1990 births Living people Catholics from Tennessee American football long snappers Baltimore Ravens players Denver Broncos players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee San Francisco 49ers players UCLA Bruins football players