Alfred Terance "Terry" Kinard (born November 24, 1959) is a former American college and professional football player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

in 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) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

, and was a two-time consensus All-American. Kinard was selected in the first round of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...

, and played professionally for the NFL's New York Giants and

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

Early years

Kinard was born in Bitburg,

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. He attended Sumter High School in Sumter, South Carolina, graduating with the class of 1978.

College career

He attended Clemson University, where he played for the Clemson Tigers football team from 1979 to 1982. Kinard was a two-time consensus first-team All-American for two years in a row. He was the

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National Defensive Player of the Year in 1982 and selected to the ''

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'' All-College Football Team in the 1980s. Kinard is the all-time Clemson leader in

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s with seventeen and

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

by a defensive back with 294. His college career did not start smoothly. He suffered a

separated shoulder A separated shoulder, also known as acromioclavicular joint injury, is a common injury to the acromioclavicular joint. The AC joint is located at the outer end of the clavicle where it attaches to the acromion of the scapula. Symptoms include no ...

in his first game and was out the rest of the season. He later said that having to

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turned out to be a good thing, as he was not physically ready to compete as a freshman. Kinard was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Professional career

The New York Giants selected Kinard in the first round (tenth pick overall) of the 1983 NFL Draft, and he played for the Giants from to . He played his eighth and final season for the Houston Oilers in . In his eight NFL seasons, Kinard played in 121 games, started 115 of them, made thirty-one interceptions and recovered seven fumbles.

Personal

Kinard married his wife Cassandra on June 21, 2003. Their son Jaden was born in 2004.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinard, Terry 1959 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Clemson Tigers football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Houston Oilers players National Conference Pro Bowl players New York Giants players People from Bitburg Ed Block Courage Award recipients