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Kenny Willekes
Kenny Willekes (born July 22, 1997) is an American professional football defensive end for the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at Michigan State, and was three times named to the All-Big Ten team. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2020 NFL draft. Early life Willekes attended NorthPointe Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He played linebacker and running back in high school. He had 423 tackles during his high school football career. College career Willekes joined Michigan State University as a walk-on in 2015. He redshirted his first year and played in one game in 2016. In 2017, Willekes became a starter, starting 12 of 13 games. He finished the season with 72 tackles and seven sacks. In 2018, he was named the Big Ten Conference Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year after recording 78 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Willekes returned to Michigan State his senior year in 2019 rather than enter the 2019 NF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive End
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is played. History Early formations, with six- and seven-man lines, used the end as a containment player, whose job was first to prevent an "end run" around his position, then secondarily to force plays inside. When most teams adopted a five-man line, two different styles of end play developed: "crashing" ends, who rushed into the backfield to disrupt plays, and "stand-up" or "waiting" ends, who played the more traditional containment style. Some teams would use both styles of end play, depending on game situations. Traditionally, defensive ends are in a three-point stance, with their free hand cocked back ready to "punch" an offensive lineman, or in a two-point stance like a strong safety so they can keep con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful handing that results in loss of ball possession by a player. Unlike other events which cause the ball to become loose, such as an incomplete pass, a fumbled ball is considered a live ball, and may be recovered and advanced by any member of either team. A fumble may be forced by a defensive player who either grabs or punches the ball or butts the ball with their helmet (a move called "tackling the ball"). A fumbled ball may be recovered and advanced by either team (except, in American football, after the two-minute warning in either half/overtime or on 4th down at any point during the game, when the fumbler is the only offensive player allowed to advance the ball, otherwise the ball is ruled dead at the spot of the fumble, except when it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redshirted
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the four years of academic classes typically required to earn a bachelor's degree at an American college or university. However, in a redshirt year, student athletes may attend classes at the college or university, practice with an athletic team, and "suit up" (wear a team uniform) for play – but they may compete in only a limited number of games (see "#Use of status, Use of status" section). Using this mechanism, a student athlete (traditionally) has at most five academic years to use the four years of eligibility, thus becoming what is termed a Super senior, fifth-year senior. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional year of eligibility was granted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA to student athletes who met certai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walk-on (sports)
In American and Canadian college athletics, a walk-on is someone who becomes part of a college team without being recruited or awarded an athletic scholarship. Walk-on players are generally viewed as less significant players and may not even be placed on an official depth chart or traveling team, while the scholarship players are a team's main players. However, a walk-on player occasionally becomes a noted member of the team. General parameters * Because of scholarship limits instituted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), many football teams do not offer scholarships to their Punter (gridiron football), punters, long snappers and placekickers until they have become established producers. * Sometimes injury or outside issues can ravage the depth chart of a particular position, resulting in the elevation of a walk-on to a featured player. * In other situations, a walk-on may so impress the coaching staff with their play on the scout team and in practice that th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the country. After the introduction of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Act in 1862, the state designated the college a land-grant institution in 1863, making it the first of the land-grant colleges in the United States. The college became coeducational in 1870. Today, Michigan State has facilities all across the state and over 634,000 alumni. Michigan State is a member of the Association of American Universities and is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university's campus houses the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 countries. It is the level of tackle football that is played before college football. Rules The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) establishes the rules of high school American football in the United States. In Canada, high school is governed by Football Canada and most schools use Canadian football rules adapted for the high school game except in British Columbia, which uses the NFHS rules. Since the 2019 high school season, Texas is the only state that does not base its football rules on NFHS rules, instead using National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA rules with certain exceptions shown below. Through the 2018 season, Massachusetts also based its rules on those of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Running Back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense, rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and Blocking (American football), block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a Halfback (American football), halfback (in certain contexts also referred to as a "tailback" — see #Halfback/tailback, below), a wingback (American football), wingback, or a Fullback (American football), fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's key player/more prominent running back. With the increase in pass-oriented offenses and single set back formations, it is more common to refer to these players as simply running backs. Halfback/tailbac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary). As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How linebackers play their positions depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker is frequently the "quarterback of the defense". His central role on the field means he is in the best positio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2020 NFL Draft
The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The draft concluded with rounds 4–7 on April 25. The NFL originally planned to hold the event live in Paradise, Nevada, before all public events related to it were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, all team selections took place via videoconferencing with league commissioner Roger Goodell broadcasting picks from his home. The Washington Redskins retired their name two months after the 2020 draft, making it the final draft where players were selected under the Redskins branding. The draft is noteworthy for producing five playoff starters at the quarterback position: Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Jalen Hurts. Burrow became the first to reach a Super Bowl in Super Bowl LVI, while Hurts became the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA; it is the oldest NCAA Division I conference in the country. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of ten prominent universities, which accounts for its name. On August 2, 2024, the conference expanded to 18 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport. Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. A large student body is a hallma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, first gained popularity in the United States. Like gridiron football generally, college football is most popular in the United States and Canada. While no single governing body exists for college football in the United States, most schools, especially those at the highest levels of play, are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. In Canada, collegiate football competition is governed by U Sports for universities. The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (for colleges) governs soccer and other sports but not gridiron football. Other countries, such as Organización Nacional Estudiantil de Fútbol Americano, Mexico, American football in Japan, Japan and Korea American Football Association, South Korea, also host colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Football League (2024)
The United Football League (UFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football high level Minor league football (gridiron), minor league in the United States. The league was created following the merger of the latest incarnations of the XFL (2020–2023), XFL and United States Football League (2022–2023), United States Football League (USFL); it started play in March 2024. It comprises eight teams, all of which were members of the XFL or USFL prior to the UFL's creation, concentrated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Southern United States. Background 2020–2021 In 2017, Vince McMahon, who had previously launched the XFL (2001), XFL in 2001 as a partnership with NBC Sports, registered a trademark for the United Football League name. An unrelated United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, founded by Bill Hambrecht, had played four abbreviated seasons from UFL Premiere Season, 2009 to 2012 UFL season, 2012. McMahon ultimat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
