Khaleke Hudson (born December 6, 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 with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

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 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and was drafted by Washington in the fifth round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

. He shares an NCAA record for most

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

for a loss in a single game with eight, doing so in 2017.

Early career

Hudson attended

McKeesport Area High School McKeesport Area High School is a public high school located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, United States. The school, which is located at 1960 Eden Park Boulevard, serves students from Dravosburg, McKeesport, South Versailles, Versailles, and Whi ...

in Pennsylvania where he played

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 ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was recruited by several top programs as a two-way player. At the time of his January 27, 2016 commitment to Michigan he was the number one rated football prospect in the Pennsylvania statewide class of 2016 according to

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and had offers from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

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

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

College career

Hudson made his debut on September 3, 2016, against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. In the 2016 campaign, Khaleke made an appearance in all 13 games primarily on special teams. Khaleke only appeared in 2 games as a Safety, and was the Special Teams Player of the Game after a home win against Illinois. On November 4, 2017, he set the school single-game record with eight tackles for loss against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in the Little Brown Jug rivalry game, earning Big Ten Conference Co-Defensive Player of the week. Hudson was recognized as the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the effort (15 total tackles, 12 of which were solo, 3

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s, and a forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

), which tied an NCAA single-game record and set a

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 ...

tackle for loss record. Following the 2017 season, Hudson, who was second in the conference in tackles for loss for the season, earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition from the coaches. Prior to his junior season in 2018, Hudson was named to preseason watch lists for the

Lott Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...

and

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

. He was named preseason first-team all-Big Ten by

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

. Hudson appeared in all 13 games for the Wolverines but assumed a lesser role in the defense than his sophomore season. He finished with three tackles for loss and 39 total tackles on the year, and was named an honorable mention all-conference selection by both media and coaches. As a senior, Hudson was named to the preseason watchlist for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

. During the 2019 season, Hudson was Michigan's leading tackler with a career-best 97 stops, including 3.5 for loss with two sacks. He added three pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, and a blocked kick. In the following the season Hudson was named to second-team 2019 All-Big Ten.

Professional career

Hudson was selected by the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

in the fifth round (162nd overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract with the team on July 23, 2020. On December 7, 2021, Hudson was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after suffering an ankle injury in the Week 13 game against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

. On August 30, 2022, Hudson was waived by the Commanders and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 21. He signed a one-year contract extension on March 12, 2023.

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bioMichigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Khaleke 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from McKeesport, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football defensive backs American football linebackers Michigan Wolverines football players Washington Commanders players Washington Football Team players