Paris Michael Lenon (born November 26, 1977) 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 was signed by 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 ...

of the

NFL 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 major ...

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 the spring of 2000, then chosen by the Memphis Maniax in the XFL Draft in the fall of 2000. 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 ...

at University of Richmond. Lenon was a member of the Panthers, the Maniax, then the NFL's

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

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 ...

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 ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

, and

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 ...

. Lenon was the last active NFL player to have played in the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

Early years

Lenon attended Heritage High School in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

and won two varsity letters each in football and basketball, and one in baseball. In football, he played free safety and quarterback, and was named the Western District Defensive Player of the Year. Lenon graduated from Heritage High School in 1995.

College career

Lenon attended the University of Richmond and was a four-year letterman and a three-year starter in football. As a redshirt sophomore in 1997, Lenon recorded a career-high 104 tackles. He was selected to the First-team All-

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

in 1997. He was named to the second-team All-Atlantic 10 in his senior season in 1998. He finished his college career with 45 games played, 320 tackles, 12 sacks, and four forced fumbles.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Lenon was signed by the

as an

following the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

, but was released by the team on June 9, 2000.

Memphis Maniax

After spending the 2000 season out of football, Lenon was a member of the Memphis Maniax in the

's only season, 2001.

Green Bay Packers

Following the XFL's season, Lenon signed with the

on April 26, 2001. He was waived by the team on July 24, 2001.

Seattle Seahawks

Lenon was signed by the

on August 16, 2001 and was waived by the team on August 27, 2001.

Green Bay Packers (second stint)

Lenon re-joined the Packers on December 27, joining their practice squad for the remainder of the regular season and the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. After the season, he was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

for the spring 2002 season. In 2002, Lenon played in all 16 games for the Packers, mainly on special teams. He played in all 16 games in 2003 and 2004 for the Packers, starting four games in 2004 at linebacker. Lenon started 12 games in 2005, his final season with the Packers.

Detroit Lions

Lenon signed a three-year deal with the

March 22, 2006. On December 23, 2007, Lenon intercepted a pass by

Brodie Croyle John Brodie Croyle (; born February 6, 1983) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL) in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Un ...

and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown, in a 25-20 victory over the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. His 2007 season was his career best. He totaled 116 tackles (86 solo, 30 assisted), 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception. Lenon was also the team leader in tackles in the 2008 season, the third straight year he started all 16 games for the Lions (in spite of the fact the Lions did not win a single game that year).

New England Patriots

Paris-Lenon 8-28-09 Patriots-vs-Redskins

Lenon signed with the

on May 27, 2009. He was released on September 5, 2009.

St. Louis Rams

Lenon signed with the

on September 16, 2009. Lenon became the starting weak side linebacker after

Will Witherspoon William Cordell Witherspoon (born August 19, 1980) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia. Professionally, he played fo ...

was traded to the Eagles. Lenon tied for the team lead with three forced fumbles.

Arizona Cardinals

Lenon signed with the

on March 15, 2010.

Denver Broncos

On August 20, 2013, Lenon was signed by 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 ...

. During the Broncos' 2013 season he played in 14 regular season and three postseason games, including Super Bowl XLVIII.http://www.nfl.com/player/parislenon/2503971/gamelogs Lenon 2013 Game Logs, www.nfl.com, retrieved February 12, 2014

References

External links

Denver Broncos bio

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenon, Paris 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Lynchburg, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia African-American players of American football American football linebackers Richmond Spiders football players Memphis Maniax players Amsterdam Admirals players Green Bay Packers players Seattle Seahawks players Detroit Lions players New England Patriots players St. Louis Rams players Arizona Cardinals players Denver Broncos players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople