Khaylan Kearse-Thomas (born February 7, 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 ...

who plays for the

Stuttgart Surge The Stuttgart Surge are an American football team based in Stuttgart, Germany. They play in the European League of Football (ELF) as part of the league's South division. The team plays its home games at the Gazi Stadium which is currently the ol ...

of the

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional sports#American football, professional American football sports league, league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, S ...

. 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 ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

High school career

Kearse-Thomas attended

Etiwanda High School Etiwanda High School is a public high school in Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States. It is one of the twelve schools of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District and serves students in the Etiwanda community on the northeast side of Ran ...

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...

. During his high school career with the Eagles he earned multiple honors. In addition to being named to All-League and All-CIF teams, he was also named to the All-State Second Team following his senior season. A four-star recruit, Kearse-Thomas committed to play

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

in 2015.

College career

Kearse-Thomas played in six games as a freshman before redshirting his sophomore season. He did not miss another game in the following three years. After initially being used mainly on special teams, he also asserted himself on defense as a senior and served as the Sun Devils' starter. As a result, he recorded 66 tackles, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions and four pass break-ups in 13 games. In 2019, the Sun Devils beat the Florida State Seminoles in the 2019 Sun Bowl, marking the first time Kearse-Thomas emerged victorious after three straight bowl losses.

Professional career

In late April 2020, the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

signed Kearse-Thomas as an undrafted free agent. He was released by the Titans in late August. On July 9, 2021, the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) announced the signing of Kearse-Thomas. Ten days later, he was released. On January 24, 2023, he was introduced by the Stuttgart Surge of the

(ELF) for the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

Professional statistics

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bio

NCAA bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearse-Thomas, Khaylan 1997 births Living people American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Arizona State Sun Devils football players Tennessee Titans players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Stuttgart Surge players American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Germany