Azur Kamara (born September 26, 1998) is an

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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

. He signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

as an undrafted free agent. He has also played for the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

Early years

Kamara was born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

at the age of 10, after his mother finally gained approval to send for her four children (there was a maximum of three children allowed). His mother had arrived 5 years earlier as a refugee from the

First Ivorian Civil War The First Ivorian Civil War was a civil conflict in the Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d'Ivoire) that began with a military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 2007. The conflict pitted the government of ...

. He attended Central High School. As a freshman, he began playing

for the first time. As a senior, he had 106 tackles, 25.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, while receiving All-conference honors.

College career

Arizona Western

Kamara enrolled at Arizona Western College. As a freshman, he tallied 45 tackles, 13.5 tackles-for-loss, 8 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. As a sophomore, he posted 30 tackles, 15.5 tackles-for-loss (led the team), 12.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one pass breakup and one blocked kick, while contributing to the team reaching the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

national title game.

Kansas

He transferred to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

after his sophomore season. As a junior, he appeared in all 12 games with 3 starts. He registered 16 tackles (5 for loss), one sack, one quarterback hurry, one pass breakup and one forced fumble. As a senior, he was named the starter at

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

. He started 12 games, while making 51 tackles (sixth on the team), 6 tackles-for-loss (second on the team), 3.5 sacks and 4 quarterback hurries. Kamara played with fellow Jayhawk

Hakeem Adeniji Hakeem Adeniji (born December 8, 1997) is an American football offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas. At Kansas, he was a two-time All-Big 12 selection, making th ...

in the

2020 Senior Bowl The 2020 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game played on January 25, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2020 draft of the professional National ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Kamara was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

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 ...

on April 27, 2020. On August 1, 2020, he was waived with an injury designation. After going unclaimed on waivers, he reverted to the Cowboys' injured reserve. During training camp in 2021, Kamara, along with his mother, who attended a game of his for the first time, were featured on ''

Hard Knocks Hard Knocks may refer to: Films * ''Hard Knocks'' (1924), a comedy short by James Parrott * ''Hard Knocks'' (1979 film), a 1979 American film * ''Hard Knocks'' (1980 film), a 1980 Australian film starring Tracy Mann * '' Hard Knocks: The Chris B ...

'' as he battled for a roster spot. He appeared in nine games, playing mostly 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 ...

, and recorded three tackles. He was waived on December 20.

Carolina Panthers

On December 21, 2021, Kamara was claimed off waivers by the

. On December 22, he was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

list. He was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list on December 28. Kamara was waived on May 11, 2022.

Kansas City Chiefs

Kamara was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

on July 27, 2022. He was released during final roster cut downs on August 30, 2022. The following day he was signed to the practice squad. He was waived off the practice squad on September 6, 2022. He was later re-signed on November 1. He was released on November 29.

References

External links

Kansas Jayhawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamara, Azur Living people 1998 births Ivorian sportsmen Sportspeople from Glendale, Arizona Players of American football from Maricopa County, Arizona American football linebackers Arizona Western Matadors football players Kansas Jayhawks football players Dallas Cowboys players Carolina Panthers players Kansas City Chiefs players Ivorian emigrants to the United States