Carlo Kemp (born January 1, 1998) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played professionally for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Early life

Kemp was a four-year letterman at Fairview High School. He was a second-team All-Conference selection as a freshman. As a sophomore, he was named to the All-State first-team. In his junior season, he recorded 66 tackles, 20 tackles-for-loss, eight sacks and 11 rushing touchdowns. Following the season he again received first-team All-Conference and first-team All-State honors. As a senior he settled into the outside linebacker position, recording 81 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss, four sacks and one blocked field goal. Following the season he again received first-team All-Conference and first-team All-State honors. He also received

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

's Gold Helmet Award, as Colorado's top high school senior football player, for outstanding play, academics and citizenship. He finished his career with 203 tackles, averaging 5.3 tackles per game, 14 career sacks, and one interception. Kemp was regarded as the best high school prospect out of the state of Colorado. He received scholarship offers from

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, Notre Dame,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. After official visits to Colorado, Michigan and Notre Dame, he committed to play for the Michigan Wolverines on November 8, 2015.

College career

Kemp played

for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 2016 to 2020. During his freshman season in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, he made his collegiate debut on September 17, 2016, in a game against

. During his sophomore season in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, he played in all 13 games. He began his career as a linebacker, then following the 2017 season, he became a defensive lineman. During his junior season in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

he appeared in all 13 games, including 12 starts on the defensive line, and recorded 17 tackles. On August 21, 2019, he was named captain for the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

season. During his senior season in 2019, he started 12 games and recorded 40 tackles, with 4.5 tackles-for-loss. Following the season he was named third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches. During his fifth-year senior season in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

he appeared in all six games with five starts on the defensive line, and recorded 21 tackles, and three tackles-for-loss, in a season that was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Following the season he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention. Kemp participated in the

2021 Hula Bowl The 2021 Hula Bowl was a post-season college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridi ...

, where he was named Team Aina's Defensive MVP for the contest after he recorded four tackles in addition to a pick six.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

After going undrafted in the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

, he signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2021. He was waived by the Packers on August 31, 2021.

Denver Broncos

On December 31, 2021, Kemp was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

to the practice squad. He was released by the Broncos on January 3, 2022.

Pittsburgh Maulers

On February 22, 2022, Kemp was drafted 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Maulers in the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

. He led the Maulers with five sacks during the

2022 USFL season The 2022 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League, and the first season of a league using that name since 1985. The season began on April 16 and concluded on July 3. The league's eight teams represent various geog ...

Los Angeles Chargers

On July 21, 2022, Kemp signed with the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

of the NFL. He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 17, 2023. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

Birmingham Stallions

On December 22, 2023, Kemp signed with the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

of the

(USFL). He was waived by the team in March 2024.

Houston Roughnecks

On March 13, 2024, Kemp was claimed off waivers by the Houston Roughnecks. He retired on April 16, 2024.

Personal life

Kemp is the nephew of former

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

head coach

Chuck Pagano Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is an American football coach who is currently a senior secondary coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 ...

and

outside linebackers coach

John Pagano John Pagano (born March 30, 1967) is an American professional football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A longtime assistant coach with the San Diego Chargers, Pagano ...

. He is the grandson of Sam Pagano, a Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductee and former head coach at Boulder's Fairview High.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Carlo 1998 births Living people American football defensive linemen Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Boulder, Colorado Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) players Los Angeles Chargers players Birmingham Stallions (2022) players Houston Roughnecks (2024) players