Kyle Emanuel (born August 16, 1991) 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 ...

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 ...

. He won the

Buck Buchanan Award The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was d ...

in 2014. 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 ...

for

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

where they won four straight FCS championships. He was drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the fifth round of the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

Professional career

On November 28, 2014, it was announced that Emanuel had accepted his invitation to play in the 2015 East-West Shrine Game. On January 17, 2015, Emanuel played in the 2015 East-West Shrine Game and was a part of Jim Zorn's West team that lost the 19–3 to the East. Emanuel attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

and completed all of the combine and positional drills. On March 26, 2015, Emanuel participated at North Dakota State's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He also attended pre-draft visits with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, and

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 ...

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Emanuel's draft projections from NFL draft experts and scouts varied from as early as the third round to as late to the fifth or sixth rounds. He was ranked as the 16th best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

2015

The

selected Emanuel in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the

. Emanuel was the 19th linebacker drafted in 2015. On May 14, 2015, the San Diego Chargers signed Emanuel to a four-year, $2.49 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $218,572. Throughout training camp, Emanuel competed to be a backup outside linebacker against

Tourek Williams Tourek Williams (born May 9, 1991) is a former American football outside linebacker. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida International. High school Williams a ...

Cordarro Law Cordarro Law (born October 15, 1988) is a Canadian football defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for Southern Mississippi. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undraf ...

Colton Underwood Colton Scott Brown-Underwood (born January 26, 1992) is an American reality television personality and former professional football player. He played defensive end at Illinois State and was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free ...

, Brock Hekking, and

Ryan Mueller Ryan Mueller (born April 30, 1991) is an American football defensive end, linebacker, and fullback for the Vegas Vipers of the XFL. He played college football at Kansas State University. He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Foo ...

. Head coach Mike McCoy named Emanuel the fourth outside linebacker on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind

Melvin Ingram Melvin Ingram III (born April 26, 1989) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at South Carolina, and earned All-American honors. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round ...

Jeremiah Attaochu Jeremiah Ojimaojo Attaochu (born January 17, 1993) is a Nigerian born American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2 ...

, and Cordarro Law. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the San Diego Chargers' season-opener against the

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 ...

and recorded three combined tackles, deflected a pass, made his first career interception, and also made his first career sack in their 33–28 victory. Emanuel made his first career sack and interception on Lions' quarterback

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he was a first-team All-American, and was selected f ...

. In Week 8, he collected a season-high four combined tackles in the Chargers' 29–26 loss at 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 ...

. On December 20, 2015, Emanuel recorded two solo tackles before exiting the Chargers' 30–14 win against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

due to a concussion. He remained inactive for their Week 16 loss against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

due to the

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

. He finished his rookie season in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

with 25 combined tackles (16 solo), one interception, one sack, and a pass deflection in 15 games and two starts.

2016

Emanuel entered training camp in 2016 as a backup outside linebacker and competed for a primary backup role against Tourek Williams. Head coach Mike McCoy named Emanuel a starting outside linebacker to begin the regular season, replacing Jeremiah Attachou. He started alongside Melvin Ingram and inside linebackers

Manti Te'o Manti Malietau Louis Te'o ( ; born January 26, 1991) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. Te'o played college football at Notre Dame, where he was a consensus All-American and received eight national awards. He was drafted ...

and

Denzel Perryman Denzel Perryman (born December 5, 1992) is an American football middle linebacker for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Miami. High school career Perryman attended Coral Gables Senior Hig ...

. Emanuel was temporarily moved to inside linebacker during the 2016 season after season-ending injuries to Manti Te’o and

Nick Dzubnar Nicholas David Dzubnar (born August 15, 1991) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Cal Poly. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers in 2015 and also played for the T ...

. In Week 13, Emanuel collected a season-high eight combined tackles in the Chargers’ 28–21 loss to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He finished his second season in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

with 58 combined tackles (36 solo), a pass deflection, one forced fumble, and was credited with half a sack in 16 games and 11 starts.

2017

On January 1, 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers fired head coach Mike McCoy after they finished with a 5–11 record. Defensive coordinator

Gus Bradley Paul Casey "Gus" Bradley (born July 5, 1966) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seah ...

opted to switch the base defense from a base 3-4 defense to a base 4-3 defense. Throughout training camp, Emanuel competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Jeremiah Attachou,

Jatavis Brown Jatavis Brown (born February 18, 1994) is a former American football linebacker. He attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida and would later play college football at Akron. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fif ...

, and

Korey Toomer Korey Toomer (born December 9, 1988) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Idaho. Early years Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nev ...

. Head coach

Anthony Lynn Anthony Ray Lynn (born December 21, 1968) is an American football coach and former running back who is the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in t ...

named Emanuel the starting strongside linebacker to begin the 2017 regular season, alongside Jatavis Brown and middle linebacker Korey Toomer. In Week 7, Emanuel collected a season-high four solo tackles during a 21–0 win against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. On December 10, 2017, Emanuel recorded two solo tackles, broke up a pass, and made his second career interception in the Chargers’ 30–13 win against the

Washington Redskins 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) N ...

in Week 14. A hit by

caused an errant pass by Stafford and was intercepted by Emanuel in the third quarter. He finished the

2017 NFL season The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with Kansas City defeating defending Super Bowl LI champion New England in ...

with 34 combined tackles (21 solo), three pass deflections, 1.5 sacks, and one interception in 16 games and 11 starts.

2018

Emanuel entered training camp slated as the starting strong side linebacker, but saw minor competition for the role from rookies

Uchenna Nwosu Uchenna Nwosu (born December 28, 1996) is an American football outside linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in the second r ...

and

Kyzir White Kyzir Rasim White (born March 24, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at West Virginia Mountaineers football, West Virginia and was drafted by the L ...

. Head coach Anthony Lynn named Emanuel the starter to begin the regular season, alongside

and middle linebacker

. On April 4, 2019, Emanuel announced his retirement from the NFL.

Las Vegas Raiders

Emanuel came out of retirement to sign with 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 23, 2020. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on September 26 for the team's week 3 game against 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 ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game.

Houston Texans

On October 12, 2020, Emanuel was signed by 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 ...

off the Raiders practice squad. He was placed on injured reserve on November 9, 2020. He was activated on December 5, 2020.

Personal life

In 2019 Emanuel was one of the Hosts of the NDSU Bison Pregame Show on KVLY (NBC). Emanuel worked as freelance broadcaster with KVLY appearing in the NDSU Pre Game Show and the Halftime report. In 2022, Emanuel married attorney and former Miss North Dakota Jaclyn Arness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emanuel, Kyle 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Nebraska People from Schuyler, Nebraska American football defensive ends American football linebackers North Dakota State Bison football players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Las Vegas Raiders players Houston Texans players