Tanoh Kpassagnon ( ; born June 14, 1994) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL). 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 Villanova and was drafted by 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 ...

in the second round of 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 ...

High school career

Kpassagnon attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Wissahickon High School Wissahickon High School is the sole public high school of the Wissahickon School District, and is located in Ambler, Pennsylvania. The school is recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the United States Department of Educati ...

Ambler, Pennsylvania Ambler is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the Center City Philadelphia. History Lenape The historical territory of the Lenni Lenape was in the Delaware River Valley, in a ...

. He was recently inducted into the Wissahickon High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

College career

Kpassagnon committed to play at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

, the only school to offer him a scholarship for football. He redshirted his freshman season and started as a tight end. By his junior season, he had switched to defensive end. As a senior, he was the

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

defensive player of the year after recording 11 sacks. In a game against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Kpassagnon blocked a field goal and had two tackles for loss. Kpassagnon double-majored in accounting and finance at Villanova. He interned at the accounting firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

for two summers.

Professional career

Kpassagnon received an invitation to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and made two combined tackles and a sack, helping the South clinch a 16–15 defeat over the North. He attended the NFL Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills. He also participated at Villanova's Pro Day and ran positional drills for scouts and representatives. Representatives from 18 NFL teams, including six defensive line coaches, attended to scout Kpassagnon as the feature prospect, two Villanova teammates, and seven other players from smaller schools. Kpassagnon had private workouts and visits with ten NFL teams, that included the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

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 ...

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 ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be drafted anywhere from the second to fourth round. He was ranked the 12th best defensive end in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and the 13th best defensive end by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Kansas City Chiefs

FILE:Tanoh Kpassagnon.JPG, 200px, Kpassagnon with the

in 2017. The

selected Kpassagnon in the second round with the 59th overall pick in the

. He was the seventh defensive end selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. On June 7, 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Kpassagnon to a four-year, $4.32 million contract with $1.94 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.32 million. He competed with

Rakeem Nuñez-Roches Rakeem Nathan Nuñez-Roches (born 3 July 1993) is a Belizean professional American football nose tackle for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round (217th overall) ...

Jarvis Jenkins Jarvis Jenkins (born April 24, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Clemson University. Early years Jenkins attend ...

, Allen Bailey, and David King throughout training camp for the vacant starting defensive end job left by the departure of

Jaye Howard Jaye Howard Jr. (born December 20, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a member of a BCS National Championship team. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in t ...

. After showing versatility and "freakish" athleticism throughout training camp and the preseason, head coach

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...

designated an edge rusher role for Kpassagnon that allows him to line up at multiple positions, including outside linebacker, defensive end, and defensive tackle. Kpassagnon was named the backup right outside linebacker behind

Dee Ford Donald “Dee” Ford (born March 19, 1991) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn Tigers football, Aubur ...

with the usual starter,

Tamba Hali Tamba Boimah Hali (born 3 November 1983) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he earned All-American honors, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fi ...

, on the physically unable to perform list to begin the regular season. Kpassagnon made his professional regular season debut during the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opening 42–27 victory over the

. On December 31, 2017, with the division title and the fourth seed clinched, Chiefs head coach

rested the majority of the teams starters, giving Kpassagnon the chance to make his first career start 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 ...

. He finished with seven combined tackles and two sacks during the 27–24 victory. On January 19, 2020 against 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 ...

in the AFC Championship Game, Kpassagnon sacked quarterback

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...

twice during the 35–24 win. The Chiefs eventually made it to

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

. The Chiefs succeeded in defeating the 49ers 31–20 to secure their first championship in 50 years. In Week 16 of the 2020 season against the

, Kpassagnon tipped a potential game-tying field goal attempt by

Younghoe Koo Younghoe Koo (; pronounced ; born August 3, 1994) is a South Korean player of American football who is a placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2020. Koo played college ...

to seal a 17–14 win for the Chiefs. Overall, he finished the 2020 season with 28 total tackles, one sack, and three passes defensed. In the AFC Championship against the

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

, Kpassagnon recorded one sack on

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defensi ...

during the 38–24 win.

New Orleans Saints

Kpassagnon signed a two-year contract with the

on March 29, 2021. He was placed on injured reserve on December 2, 2021.

Personal life

Kpassagnon is the son of Ivorian and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n parents. His mother, Winifred Wafwoyo, is a chemist, and his father, Patrice Kpassagnon Tagro, is an economist.

References

External links

Villanova Wildcats bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kpassagnon, Tanoh 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Kalamazoo, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football defensive ends Villanova Wildcats football players Kansas City Chiefs players American people of Ivorian descent American people of Ugandan descent New Orleans Saints players