Kyle Brockton Kalis (born December 21, 1993) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and

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 eccentrici ...

who is currently a free agent. He was selected as a first-team All-American by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' magazine during his senior year in high school, as well as the number one recruit in Ohio for the class of 2012. He became one of the top recruits in the 2012 college football recruiting class. Kalis played college football for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

, where he went on to start 47 games at right guard. He was signed by 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 ...

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 2017.

Early years

Kalis is the son of

Todd Kalis Todd Alexander Kalis (born May 10, 1965) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He was an offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings (1988–1993), the Pittsburgh Steelers (1994) and the Cincinnati Bengals ( ...

, an offensive lineman who played eight years in the NFL with the Vikings, Steelers and Bengals. He was the only freshman on the varsity football team at Seneca Valley High School in Harmony, PA. He played the remainder of his high school football career at St. Edward High School in Lakewood Ohio near Bay Village, where he lived with his mother, Stephanie Garvin Schwarz. In December 2011, he was one of five offensive linemen selected by ''Sports Illustrated'' for its high school football All-America first-team. In January 2012, he was also named to ''

'' magazine and U.S. Army All-American football teams. He was one of six finalists for the Anthony Munoz Lineman of the Year Award, presented to the best high school lineman in the United States.

Recruiting

Kalis was one of the top-rated recruits in the 2012 college football recruiting class. He was rated as a five-star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was also a finalist for the U.S. Army Player of the Year award. He was rated as the No. 1 prospect from Ohio and the No. 4-ranked offensive tackle in the United States by Rivals.com. In September 2010, Kalis verbally committed to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. In July 2011, Kalis switched his commitment from Ohio State to

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 ...

in the wake of a memorabilia-for-gifts scandal that led to the resignation of head coach

Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American college football coach and university administrator who is currently the president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the ...

College career

Kalis conveyed his commitment to Michigan head coach

Brady Hoke Brady Patrick Hoke (; born November 3, 1958) is an American football coach in his second stint as the head coach at San Diego State University. He was previously the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014. Hoke grew up in O ...

from the "M" logo at the middle of the field at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

. He also told reporters, "I believe the Michigan-Ohio border is now open. I think you're going to see eight or nine guys from the state of Ohio going over to Michigan this year." Kalis became the subject of threats from Ohio State fans. Kalis commented on the threats as follows: ""There are really a lot of stupid people out there. I'd get people telling me they were going to come to my house with bats to tear my ACL. I got plenty of threats, even a few death threats. I gave my address out to about 20 people and told them to come find me. Nobody came." Kalis enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 2012. In late August 2012, the ''International Business Times'' selected Kalis as one of the five best incoming freshmen in the

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 ...

. He played for the Wolverines from 2013 to 2016. Following the 2016 season, Kalis was named to the All-Big Ten offensive second-team, by both the coaches and media, and was named a Second-team All-American by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Professional career

Washington Redskins

After going undrafted in 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 ...

, Kalis signed with the

as an

on May 4, 2017. On September 2, 2017, he was waived by the team and was signed to the practice squad the next day.

Indianapolis Colts

On October 3, 2017, Kalis was signed by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

off the Redskins' practice squad. He soon earned playing time and saw his first offensive game action against the Bengals, starting the second half. He went on to start 2 more games, against the Texans, and the Steelers. He was waived/injured by the Colts on December 2, 2017.

Washington Redskins (second stint)

On December 4, 2017, Kalis was claimed off waivers by the Redskins, where he then remained inactive for the last 4 games of the season. On September 1, 2018, Kalis was waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2018 season.

Cleveland Browns

On September 3, 2018, Kalis 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 Kalis to their active roster on December 1, 2018. Kalis was waived with an injury designation during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019, and subsequently reverted to injured reserve the next day. He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 11.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

On October 23, 2019, Kalis was signed to 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 ...

practice squad. He was released on December 4, 2019. He was re-signed on December 11. On December 30, 2019, Kalis was signed to a reserve/future contract. He was waived on May 5, 2020.

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalis, Kyle 1993 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive linemen Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Lakewood, Ohio Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) alumni Washington Redskins players Indianapolis Colts players Cleveland Browns players Las Vegas Raiders players Oakland Raiders players