Tyree Kinnel (born January 31, 1997) is a former American football safety. He 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 ...

Early years

Kinnel grew up in Huber Heights, Ohio and was an NFL fan, attending several

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 ...

games though he did not support a particular team. He had a brief youth wrestling career when he was younger. He attended Wayne High School. In football, Kinnel was regarded as a four-star prospect, ranked the No. 10 safety in his class and No. 1 safety in Ohio, according to Scout.com. He did not receive a scholarship offer from Ohio State, but instead committed to Michigan.

College career

Kinnel played four seasons at the University of Michigan. He became a starter as a junior in 2017 and had 70 tackles, two interceptions, seven pass breakups, and a sack. He returned an interception for a 14-yard touchdown in 2017. Kinnel was named Michigan’s most improved defensive player. As a senior in 2018, he started 13 games and compiled 74 tackles with three for loss and two pass breakups. Kinnel was named Honorable Mention All- Big Ten as a junior and senior. During his career, Kinnel posted 154 tackles, nine tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and seven pass breakups.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

, Kinnel signed with the

. He played in four preseason games, recording four tackles and two pass deflections. He was waived on August 31 as part of the final roster cuts. Kinnel later said that he wished he had signed with a different team. Kinnel was selected in the eighth round of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

by the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

. In five games with the Defenders, Kinnel had 17 tackles. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020. On March 30, 2020, Kinnel signed with 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 August 2, 2020.

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnel, Tyree 1997 births Living people American football safeties Players of American football from Ohio People from Huber Heights, Ohio Michigan Wolverines football players DC Defenders players Pittsburgh Steelers players