Kenny Demens

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Kenny Demens
refer to caption
Demens in 2012 at Michigan Stadium
No. 54
Position:Outside linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1990-02-04) February 4, 1990 (age 34)
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:242 lb (110 kg)
Career information
High school:Detroit Country Day School
(Beverly Hills, Michigan)
College:Michigan
Undrafted:2013
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:15
Sacks:0.0
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:0
Interceptions:0
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Kenny Demens (born February 4, 1990) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He spent the 2013 season on the Cardinals practice squad, after playing his redshirt senior season in 2012 for the Michigan Wolverines football team. He was a 2011 honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference selection and the 2011 team leader in tackles. In 2014, he began the season on the active roster. He had a season-ending injury in 2015 and was cut in 2016. During his NFL career, he mostly played special teams.

Early years[edit]

Demens began playing football as an 8-year-old in Southfield, Michigan and attended Ron Rice's football camp for a few years as a youth.[1]

Detroit Country Day reached the 2007 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 State Championship game at Ford Field.[2] Demens recorded 11 tackles in the game.[3] Demens was close friends with classmate Jonas Gray.[4] Demens was regarded as the 23rd, 23rd and 35th best high school football linebacker in the country as a senior by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.com, respectively.[5][6][7] Rivals also ranked him as the eighth best high school football player in the state of Michigan.[6]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Kenny Demens
LB 		Detroit, Michigan Detroit Country Day (MI) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 224.5 lb (101.8 kg) 4.6 Sep 29, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 23 (LB)   Rivals: 23 (LB), 8 (MI)  ESPN: 35 (LB)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Michigan Football Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  • "2008 Michigan Football Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  • "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.

College[edit]

Demens saw action as a true freshman in three games under first-year head coach Rich Rodriguez for the 2008 Wolverines.[8][9]

Demens became a starter in the October 16 game against Iowa,[3] and by the end of the season he recorded 10 tackles or more four times.[9][10] He posted 12 tackles (5 solo and 7 assists) against Penn State on October 30, 10 tackles (5 solo and 5 assists) against Illinois on November 6, a career-high 13 (5 solo and 8 assists) against Wisconsin on November 20, and a career-high-tying 13 tackles (9 solo and 4 assists) against Mississippi State in the January 1, 2011 Gator Bowl.[9]

Under new first-year head coach Brady Hoke, Demens led the 2011 Wolverines in tackles and recorded his first three (2 solo and 2 assists) quarterback sacks.[9][11] His solo sacks came against Northwestern on October 8 and Illinois on November 12.[9][12][13] He recorded ten or more tackles three times.[14] He posted 12 tackles (8 solo and 4 assists) in the rivalry game against Notre Dame on September 10 in the first night game played at Michigan Stadium,[15] 10 tackles (5 solo and 5 assists) against Northwestern on October 8 and 11 tackles (3 solo and 8 assists) against Iowa on November 5.[9] He was an honorable mention 2011 All-Big Ten Conference selection by both the coaches and the media for the 2011 team.[16][17] Demens led the team and finished among the conference leaders in tackles/game (7.2, t-13th).[18]

In 2012, he finished second on the team to Jake Ryan in tackles. He concluded his career with 51 straight games played including 33 starts.[1]

Professional career[edit]

On April 29, 2013, following the 2013 NFL Draft, Demens signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals for 3 years and $1,485,000.[19][20] Demens survived the final roster cuts to make the 53-man roster, but when the Cardinals were awarded two waiver claims, they released Demens to make room on the roster.[21] Although the Cardinals had three inside linebackers on the roster — Karlos Dansby, Jasper Brinkley and rookie Kevin Minter — they added Demens to the practice squad.[22] In 2014, he began the season on the team's official active roster.[23] On September 14, 2014, following a Ted Ginn Jr. 71-yard punt return touchdown, Demens covered a Chandler Catanzaro kickoff and forced a fumble by Quintin Demps of the New York Giants.[24] Demens was lost for the season after an October 11 ACL injury for the 2015 Cardinals against the Detroit Lions.[25] Demens was cut by the Cardinals prior to the 2016 season.[26] During Demens' career he mostly played special teams, the only 6 snaps that he took on defense happened on September 9, 2013, when he posted his career high 3 tackles in 19 plays on the field in a 13–10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[27]

Personal life[edit]

He has a younger brother named Koreal.[1]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Birkett, Dave (April 18, 2013). "Demens: A Shot at the NFL". Detroit Free Press. p. C4. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Football Yearly Champions 1975-2011". Michigan High School Athletic Association. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Kenny Demens 25". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. September 6, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  4. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (November 21, 2014). "Kenny Demens still celebrating for HS best friend Jonas Gray". ESPN. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "Kenny Demens". Scout.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Kenny Demens". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  7. ^ "Kenny Demens". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  8. ^ "Postgame Notes: Michigan 16, Miami (Ohio) 6". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. September 6, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Team: Michigan: Year: 2011 Thru 11/26/11: Player: Kenny Demens". National Collegiate Athletic Association. November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  10. ^ "Kenny Demens Game By Game Stats (2010)". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  11. ^ "Michigan (10 - 2)". National Collegiate Athletic Association. November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  12. ^ "(12) Michigan 42 (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten); Northwestern 24 (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten)". ESPN. October 8, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  13. ^ "(24) Michigan 31 (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten);Illinois 14 (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten)". ESPN. November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  14. ^ "Kenny Demens Game By Game Stats (2011)". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  15. ^ "Michigan scores with 2 seconds left, stuns Irish". ESPN. September 10, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  16. ^ "Molk Named Top Offensive Lineman to Headline Big Ten Awards". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 28, 2011. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  17. ^ "Big Ten Announces 2011 All-Big Ten Teams and Select Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. November 28, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  18. ^ "2011 Big Ten Football: Leaders". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  19. ^ "Kenny Demens Inside Linebacker". Sportrac.coms. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  20. ^ "Cardinals release Adam Snyder, sign 16 undrafted free agents". NBC Sports. April 29, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  21. ^ "Packers GM sorry about Vince Young". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Associated Press. September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  22. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (September 4, 2013). "Flush the Pocket: Cards fill practice squad". ESPN. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  23. ^ "2014 Arizona Cardinals Roster". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. September 1, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  24. ^ "Arizona Cardinals 25: 14 New York Giants: Play-by-Play". ESPN. September 14, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  25. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (October 12, 2015). "Cardinals lose LB Kenny Demens for season with ACL injury". ESPN. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  26. ^ London, Jack (September 1, 2016). "Cardinals throwback Thursday: September 1". USA Today. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  27. ^ "Kenny Demens". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2024.

External links[edit]

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