Kyle Allen Friend (born April 3, 1994) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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 ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Early years

Friend attended

Cumberland Valley High School Cumberland Valley High School (CV) is a public high school founded in 1954. It is located in the Cumberland Valley School District of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In the 2019–2020 school year, according to the National Cente ...

where he was selected to the 2010 and 2011 Associated Press All-State first-team and 2011 Harrisburg Patriot-News All-Area first-team. He was named to the 2011 Harrisburg Patriot-News All-Area first-team and 2011 Mid-Penn All-Conference. He was named Defensive Player of the Year and helped Cumberland Valley High School football team win back-to-back district championships in 2009 and 2010.

Professional career

Coming out of Temple, Friend was projected by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts to be selected in the seventh round or be signed as a priority

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 ...

New York Jets

On April 30, 2016, Friend signed with the

as an undrafted free agent following the conclusion of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. On August 28, 2016, he was waived by the Jets. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 26, 2016. He was released by the Jets on November 1, 2016, but was re-signed on December 20, 2016.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On February 14, 2017, Friend was signed by 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 ...

. He was waived on September 2, 2017 and was signed to the Steelers' practice squad the next day.

Carolina Panthers

On May 14, 2018, Friend signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

Arizona Cardinals

On October 17, 2018, Friend was signed to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

practice squad. He was released on October 26, 2018, but was re-signed four days later. He was released on November 7, 2018.

Cleveland Browns

On December 18, 2018, Friend was signed to the

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 ( ...

practice squad. The Browns signed Friend to a futures contract on January 2, 2019. Friend was waived by the Browns on April 29, 2019.

References

External links

Temple Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Kyle 1994 births Living people American football centers Arizona Cardinals players Carolina Panthers players Cleveland Browns players New York Jets players People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Steelers players Temple Owls football players