Tyree Kinnel (born January 31, 1997) is a former American football safety. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines.
_(1).jpg) Kinnel with Michigan in 2018 | |
| No. 43, 29 | |
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| Position: | Safety |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | January 31, 1997 Huber Heights, Ohio, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) |
| College: | Michigan |
| Undrafted: | 2019 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Early years
editKinnel grew up in Huber Heights, Ohio and was an NFL fan, attending several Cincinnati Bengals 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.[1] He did not receive a scholarship offer from Ohio State, but instead committed to Michigan.[2]
College career
editKinnel 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.[3] He returned an interception for a 14-yard touchdown in 2017.[4] Kinnel was named Michigan’s most improved defensive player.[2] 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.[1] During his career, Kinnel posted 154 tackles, nine tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and seven pass breakups.[5]
Professional career
editAfter going undrafted in the 2019 NFL draft, Kinnel signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.[6] He played in four preseason games, recording four tackles and two pass deflections.[7] He was waived on August 31 as part of the final roster cuts.[8] Kinnel later said that he wished he had signed with a different team.[9]
Kinnel was selected in the eighth round of the 2020 XFL Draft by the DC Defenders.[10] In five games with the Defenders, Kinnel had 17 tackles. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[11] On March 30, 2020, Kinnel signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[4] He was waived on August 2, 2020.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Pfahler, Lauren (May 12, 2019). "Wayne grad Kinnel on finding spot with Bengals: 'I know it can happen'". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ a b Hartman, Marcus (July 25, 2018). "Michigan senior/Wayne grad Tyree Kinnel covets elusive win over Ohio State". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ McMann, Aaron (April 4, 2018). "Tyree Kinnel, Michigan secondary looking forward to 'fresh start'". MLive.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ a b Varley, Teresa (March 30, 2020). "Steelers sign three free agents". Steelers.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ Williams, Charean (March 25, 2020). "Former XFL safety Tyree Kinnel signing with Steelers". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Boyle, John (May 10, 2019). "Cincinnati Bengals sign 10 college free agents, including former area high school standout". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Raven, Benjamin (February 8, 2020). "Former Michigan, Michigan State, local college players to watch in XFL's opening weekend". MLive.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bengals Announce 53-Man Roster". Bengals.com. August 31, 2019. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ McMann, Aaron (April 28, 2020). "Q&A: Ex-Michigan S Tyree Kinnel on XFL, returning to NFL, Daxton Hill". MLive.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (August 2, 2020). "Samuels, Washington placed on reserve/COVID-19 list". Steelers.com.