Jeremy Dashon Kerley (born November 8, 1988) 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. 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 ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

and was selected by the

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

in the fifth round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

. He also had stints with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Early life

Kerley attended

Hutto High School Hutto High School is a public high school located in Hutto, Texas, USA, and classified as a 6A school by the UIL. It is part of the Hutto Independent School District located in east central Williamson County (part of the greater Austin-Round R ...

Hutto, Texas Hutto is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area. The population was 42,326 at the 2024 census. History Hutto was established in 1855 when the International-Great Northern R ...

, where he was a letterman in four sports, Kerley took his

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team to the state finals in 2005 where he and his team faced Tatum and lost by three points despite a great game performance by Kerley.. His letterman included

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He played

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

in baseball. At

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, Kerley led his football team to its first state championship game as a junior. As a standout track athlete, Kerley was one of the state's top performers in the jumping events. He was a four-time state finalist in the triple jump. He qualified for the state track meet in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

(7.26 m) and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

(14.76 m), winning silver medals in both events. He was also a member of the

4 × 100 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

and

4 × 400 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

relay teams. He was recruited by the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

and

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

to play baseball, and by the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

to play football, but ultimately decided to play

for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

College career

Kerley was converted to

and

after playing quarterback in high school. Following the 2009 season, Kerley was named

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

Special Teams Player of the Year after breaking the conference record for punt return yards in a season with 563 yards. He had ten touchdown catches, one touchdown pass, and two rushing touchdowns in 2010. He ranked second in the nation in punt returns and third in the nation in kickoff returns. He was named the Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year for the second consecutive year in 2010, as well as second-team All-Mountain West honors at wide receiver. Kerley was one of three finalists in 2010 for the

Paul Hornung Award The Paul Hornung Award is a college football award that was created in January 2010 by the Louisville Sports Commission in Louisville, Kentucky, with the support of Paul Hornung, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football ...

, which honors the most versatile college football player in the nation.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Kerley was projected to be drafted in the fifth round of the

New York Jets (first stint)

Kerley was selected in the fifth round with the 153rd overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He caught his first career touchdown pass from

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

against the

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 ...

on October 9, 2011. During the home opener against the

on September 9, 2012, Kerley recorded his first career punt return touchdown. After

Tim Tebow Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...

requested to be removed from the

wildcat formation Wildcat formation is a formation for the offense in football in which the ball is snapped not to the quarterback but directly to a player of another position lined up at the quarterback position. (In most systems, this is a running back, but some ...

, Kerley took his place, and threw a 42-yard pass, though the Jets lost to the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

17–27. On October 21, 2014, Kerley agreed to a 4-year, $16 million contract extension with $5.4 million guaranteed. Kerley ended the 2015 season with career-highs in punt returns (48) and punt return yards (411). On March 9, 2016, Kerley was released by the Jets.

Detroit Lions

On March 21, 2016, Kerley signed a one-year deal with the

San Francisco 49ers

On August 29, 2016, the Lions traded Kerley to the

in exchange for guard

Brandon Thomas Brandon Thomas may refer to: *Brandon Thomas (playwright) (1848–1914), English actor and playwright who wrote the hit farce, ''Charley's Aunt'' * Brandon Thomas (musician) (born 1980), American rock band singer *Brandon Thomas (American football) ...

. Kerley agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million contract extension on March 4, 2017. On September 2, 2017, Kerley was released by the 49ers.

New York Jets (second stint)

On September 5, 2017, Kerley re-signed with the Jets on a one-year deal. On November 6, 2017, Kerley was suspended for 4 games due to a PED violation. He was released by the Jets on December 18, 2017, after being reinstated from suspension.

Buffalo Bills

On April 16, 2018, Kerley signed a one-year contract with the

. He was released by the Bills on September 15, 2018.

NFL statistics

Personal life

Kerley's parents are Charlotte and Donald Kerley. Kerley is married to Kristal Juarez and they have three kids, Dae'shon, Y'manni, and Ma'liyah. Kerley's younger cousin is

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

silver-medalist sprinter and 2022 World Athletics Champion

Fred Kerley Fredrick Lee Kerley ( ; born May 7, 1995) is an American track and field sprinter. He was the Olympic silver medalist over 100 m at the 2020 Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympics in the same event. Kerley has earned an additional s ...

Notes and references

External links

New York Jets bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerley, Jeremy 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Williamson County, Texas American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers American football return specialists TCU Horned Frogs football players New York Jets players Detroit Lions players San Francisco 49ers players Buffalo Bills players