Devon Kennard

High school career

As a sophomore in 2006, Kennard recorded 81 tackles and seven quarterback sacks. During his junior year, he had 111 tackles and 24 ½ sacks, helping the Desert Vista Thunder to the Class 5A Division I title game. For his senior year, Kennard was expected to play both fullback and tailback on offense for the Thunder in addition to his defensive duties, until top tailback Marcus Washington, an Arizona State recruit, returned from a stress fracture in his leg.

In Desert Vista's 21-20 victory over Chandler High School, Kennard suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, causing him to miss the rest of the football season. On the season Kennard had 16 carries for 132 yards with five touchdowns. Defensively, he had 18 tackles and 1½ sacks while facing double and triple teams. He played in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Recruited by over forty schools nationwide, Kennard initially considered Arizona State, California, Florida, Miami, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, and USC. He eventually cut his list to California, Texas and USC. Kennard attended summer camps with USC following his sophomore and junior seasons in high school, and grew close to USC-commit Matt Barkley. At one point, Barkley and Kennard were ranked #1 and #2 for overall prospects in the class of 2009 by Rivals.com. He was rated the No. 1 defensive prospect by a CSTV analyst, and the top defensive end by ESPN.com.

Kennard called the recruiting process "a business," telling his local paper, "They're trying to go after good players. They think you're a good player, and that's an honor, but they think somebody else is a good player, too. If you get all caught up, your head is going to get huge. I consider the whole process a business. It's a business on my end and on theirs. They've got to try to get the best players and I've got to try to go to the best program for me." Kennard announced his decision to attend USC at press conference on January 27, 2009.

College career

In his true freshman year at USC, Kennard began the season as a backup defensive end, but by midseason was seeing key action primarily in pass rushing situations. He then was moved to strongside linebacker. Appearing in 12 games and starting in five, he had 34 tackles, including 2 for losses, plus 3 deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble. He made the 2009 Pac-10 All-Freshman first teams by ESPN and Sporting News, and won USC's John McKay Award.

In 2010, Kennard was moved and started at a third position, middle linebacker, where he played in all thirteen games, with games starts, and had 72 tackles, including 7 for losses with 2 sacks. Kennard moved back to defensive end for the 2011 season, where he played in all twelve games, with five starts, and 29 tackles, including 4 for losses (with 2 sacks, one which resulted in a safety). Kennard sat out the 2012 season with a torn chest muscle.

In 2013, Kennard started all thirteen games at outside linebacker, recording 60 tackles and team-highs of 13.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, and ten quarterbacks hits. He made the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team and was named a Lott Trophy Finalist.

Professional career

Kennard was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round, 174th overall, in the 2014 NFL Draft. In addition, he was one of three USC Trojans to be selected that year.

In his rookie season, Kennard played in 12 games with six starts. He finished the season with 43 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles.

In 2015, Kennard had 58 tackles and one interception in nine games. He missed seven games due to foot and hamstring injuries. He was officially placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 28, 2015.

In 2016, Kennard placed in all 16 games, recording 61 tackles, one sack, one pass defensed and a forced fumble.

Personal life

Kennard received his bachelor's degree in communication at USC in the spring of 2012 and is working on a master's degree in communication management. He maintained the team's highest GPA. Kennard made the 2011 Pac-12 All-Academic second team and 2010 Pac-10 All-Academic second team. He and 15 of his USC teammates spent 5 days in Haiti in the spring of 2012 building homes and assisting those in need. He was selected to be one of USC's representatives at the 2011 APPLE (Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education) Conference in Austin, Tex., designed to promote student-athlete health and wellness. Kennard is the son of Derek Kennard, who played in the National Football League with the Arizona Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys, helping the latter to win Super Bowl XXX. The elder Kennard, a native of Stockton, California, attended the University of Nevada, Reno.