Brian Douglas Kinchen (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Early life

Kinchen was born in Baton Rouge to parents Gaynell "Gus" Kinchen and Tori Kinchen. He attended and played football at University High School. His father was a member of the

1958 LSU Tigers football team The 1958 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) in American football during the 1958 college football season. After finishing the season with a 10–0 record the team was named consensus national champion by the A ...

and one of the famed Chinese Bandits.

College career

At LSU, Kinchen was an All-SEC tight end. He tallied 523 yards and six touchdowns on 48 receptions over 33 career games.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins (1988–1990)

In 1988, the

selected Kinchen in the 12th round of the 1988 NFL draft with the 320th overall pick. In three seasons, he caught two passes for 15 yards over 36 games.

Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens (1991–1998)

In 1991, Kinchen signed with the

where he played for head coach

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick ( ; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, inc ...

. Over the next five seasons, he played in all but five regular season games (75 total). His best seasons were from 1993–95 when he caught 73 passes for 795 yards and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in 35 starts. Kinchen was a member of the inaugural

team in 1996 which resulted from the Cleveland Browns relocating to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. In 1996, he had his best season as a tight end with 55 receptions for 581 yards (both career highs) and one touchdown. In three years with the Ravens, Kinchen totaled 79 catches for 786 yards and two touchdowns.

Carolina Panthers (1998–2000)

In his two seasons with the

, Kinchen spent most of his time at long snapper and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. As a tight end, he had six catches for 52 yards and one touchdown. After suffering an injury, he was released at the end of the 2000 season.

New England Patriots (2003)

In 2003, Kinchen came out of retirement to replace injured

long snappers Lonie Paxton and

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia E ...

. He joined the team with two regular season games in the season and continued that role throughout the playoffs. With 0:09 left to play, Kinchen snapped the game-winning field goal in

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

Personal life

Kinchen lives in Baton Rouge, where he and his wife Lori have raised their four sons. His brother

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places Australia * Todd River, an ephemeral river United States * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated c ...

also played in the NFL. His sons Austin and Hunter Kinchen were long snappers on the LSU football team. Both Brian’s mother Toni and his wife Lori were LSU cheerleaders. Since retiring from football, Kinchen has spent time as a high school football coach and was a volunteer coach for Nick Saban’s 2004 national championship team at LSU. He currently serves as a college football analyst for ESPN. He was also previously a commentator for

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remain ...

, but was suspended after making a comment during a game that receivers needed to use their "tender" hands to "caress" the ball, and then calling the comment "kind of gay."The Long Snapper: A Second Chance, a Super Bowl, a Lesson for Life by Jeffrey Marx, Pub. Date: August 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinchen, Brian 1965 births Living people Louisiana State University Laboratory School alumni Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana American football tight ends American football long snappers Miami Dolphins players Cleveland Browns players Baltimore Ravens players Carolina Panthers players New England Patriots players LSU Tigers football players College football announcers