Erron Quincy Kinney (born July 28, 1977) is an American former college and professional football player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for six seasons during the early 2000s. Kinney played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Kinney was born in

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is named after the L ...

in 1977.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Erron Kinney
Retrieved September 3, 2010. He attended Patrick Henry High School in Ashland,databaseFootball.com, Players
Erron Kinney
. Retrieved September 3, 2010. where he played for the Patrick Henry Patriots high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 1999 Roster

. Retrieved March 24, 2011. Among his Patriots teammates was

Damien Woody Damien Michael Woody (born November 3, 1977) is a former American football offensive guard who played for the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Boston C ...

, future lineman for the New York Jets. Kinney and Woody were members of the 1994 Patriots football team that won the Virginia high school football state championship.

College career

Kinney accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division ...

team from

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 85, 98, 99, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. The Gators coaching staff

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ed him as a true freshman in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, but he was a

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

man for the 12–1 1996 Gators team that defeated the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdiv ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed on ...

to win the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game matchu ...

national championship. Kinney finished his college career with thirty-nine

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s for 507 yards and five

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s. While attending the University of Florida, Kinney majored in elementary education.

Professional career

The Tennessee Titans selected Kinney in the third round (68th pick overall) of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Th ...

, and he played for the Titans from to . In 2005, he had a career year hauling in fifty-five

s for 543 yards.National Football League, Historical Players
Erron Kinney
Retrieved September 3, 2010. Kinney suffered a knee injury in training camp prior to the 2006 season, and was released by the Titans in March 2007. He finished his seven-year NFL career with 178 receptions for 1,750 yards (an average of 9.8 yards per reception) and ten touchdowns.

Life after football

Interested in fire safety since childhood, on July 28, 2008, Kinney was sworn in as a firefighter in the fire department of the

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

suburb of Brentwood. In 2004, Tennessee governor

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 2002 with 50.6% of the vote and reel ...

appointed him to a seven-year term with the Tennessee State Firefighting Commission, an organization that tests and certifies firefighters in the state.Charles Booth, "Former Titan now Brentwood firefighter," ''The Tennessean'' (July 29, 2008). Kinney was a captain with the St. Andrews Fire Department in Charleston, South Carolina. He was hired as the first fire chief for the City of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Fire Department on March 12, 2013. In 2015 he resigned from Mt Juliet. On July 1, 2017 he was appointed chief of the Sherborn, Massachusetts fire department. On September 10, 2019, Kinney was selected to be the Fire Chief for the town of Norfolk, MA. He conducts a youth football camp at

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike o ...

in Nashville, Tennessee every summer.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinney, Erron 1977 births Living people American football tight ends Florida Gators football players Florida Gators men's basketball players Tennessee Titans players People from Ashland, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American men's basketball players