Mike Kenn
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Michael Lee Kenn (born February 9, 1956) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as an offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons 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) from 1978 to 1994. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Falcons in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft with the 13th overall pick. Standing 6'7" and 277 lb, Kenn started all 251 NFL games in which he played. He holds the Falcons' franchise record for games started and games played. He was selected as a first-team
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
player in 1980, 1983 and 1991 and was invited to play in the
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
five consecutive years from 1980 to 1984.


Early years

Kenn was born in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
, in 1956. He attended
Evanston Township High School Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202, is a four-year public high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston ...
. He played
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
and
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
in high school as well as football.


College career

Kenn 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 1974 and played college football at the offensive tackle position for head coach Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1975 to 1977. When he arrived at Michigan in 1974, he was six feet, six-and-a-half inches tall and weighed 220 pounds. By 1976, his weight had increased to 245 pounds. As a sophomore, Kenn started nine games at left tackle for the 1975 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled an 8-2-2 record, scored 324 points, finished the year ranked #3 in the final
AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...
, and rushed for 3,840 yards (320 yards per game).(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved) As a junior, Kenn started all 12 games at left tackle for the 1976 Michigan team that compiled a 10-2 record, scored 432 points, and rushed for 4,144 yards (345 yards per game). As a senior, Kenn started 11 games at left tackle for the 1977 Michigan team that compiled a 10-2 record, scored 353 points, and rushed for 2,986 yards (249 yards per game). At the end of the 1977 season, Kenn was selected as a first-team All-
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 ...
tackle.


Professional football

Kenn was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round (13th overall pick) of the 1978 NFL Draft. He signed a series of one-year contracts with the Falcons in May 1978. He started all 16 games for the Falcons at left tackle and was named to the NFL all-rookie team in 1978. In 1979, he again started all 16 games and allowed only four-and-a-half sacks and was penalized only four times.Atlanta Falcons 1980 Media Guide "He's quite close to becoming one of the elite tackles in the NFL" said his head coach
Leeman Bennett Leeman Bennett (born June 20, 1938) is a former American football coach who served at both the collegiate and professional levels, but is best remembered as head coach of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. ...
. "If he can continue improvement of the first two years he could be the best in the NFL". In 1980, Kenn was voted consensus All-Pro and was not flagged for a penalty all season and allowed just three-and-a-half sacks. "I've never seen any offensive tackle with his agility and quickness," said Bill Walsh. In 1981, Kenn was voted to his second Pro Bowl and was voted second-team All-Pro and allowed four sacks and was penalized only four times while starting all 16 games for the fourth consecutive season. Additionally, Kenn played every down (1,144) of the 1981 season, and has started 67 consecutive games without a miss. He had remarkable penalty free streak of 26 consecutive games (New Orleans, 11/25/79 - St. Louis, 10/18/81) that included the entire 1980 season. Kenn was only flagged a total of seven times during the prior three seasons (three in 1979, zero in 1980, four in 1981), and played every down of the season in three of the previous four years (1979, 1980 and 1981). In 1982, Kenn started all nine games (seven games cancelled due to NFL players strike) and allowed two sacks and was called for holding once. Kenn was voted second-team All-Pro and voted to his third consecutive Pro Bowl. He was voted as the NFC choice for the NFLPA/
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
Offensive Lineman of the Year Award for 1981 and 1982. In 1984, Kenn started all 16 games and was voted second-team All-NFL by the UPI. Kenn's consecutive games started streak was broken in 1985 when he had a knee injury that caused him to miss the final games. Kenn rebounded in 1986 to allow just four-and-a-half sacks and was called for only two holding penalties. Head coach
Dan Henning Daniel Ernest Henning, (born June 21, 1942) is a former American football player and coach. A quarterback, he played college football at the College of William & Mary and professional football in 1966 for the San Diego Chargers of the America ...
said, "He's got the physical gifts, he's bright, and now he has a great deal of experience, "That's the desirable combination." In 1988 Kenn was called for only one holding penalty and allowed 6½ sacks and was voted as a Pro Bowl Alternate."He is already one of the best offensive tackles of the last ten years, and could become one of the best of all time," said Henning.Atlanta Falcons 1989 Media Guide In 1991, Kenn shut down the NFL's top sacker and Defensive Player of the Year
Pat Swilling Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He had ...
, who did not register a sack when facing Kenn. His pass blocking allowed the Falcons to set a team record by giving up only 31 sacks in 531 passing attempts. Kenn only gave up one. For his efforts, he was voted first-team All-Pro by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
. The following season Kenn was called for one penalty and allowed five sacks and was an alternate to the Pro Bowl. In 1993 and 1994, Kenn remained the Falcons starting left tackle and retired after the 1994 season. While playing in the NFL, Kenn grew to 286 pounds.


Later years and honors

Kenn was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. In November 2014, Kenn was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. In 2021, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Kenn to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2021 After his retirement from football, Kenn served as Chairman of the
Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...
Commission.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenn, Mike 1956 births Living people Players of American football from Evanston, Illinois American politicians of Polish descent American athlete-politicians American football offensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players National Conference Pro Bowl players Michigan Wolverines football players Evanston Township High School alumni Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Fulton County commissioners Presidents of the National Football League Players Association Trade unionists from Georgia (U.S. state)