Kendrick L. McKinley (January 31, 1987 – September 20, 2010) was an American professional

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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 ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He was selected by the Broncos in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played

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South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Early life and high school career

Born in

Mableton, Georgia Mableton ( ) is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. Voters of the unincorporated area of Mableton approved a referendum to incorporate on November 8, 2022, and six council members were elected on March 21, 2023, with Michael Owens (p ...

, he graduated from South Cobb High School in Austell in 2005. As a quarterback during his senior year, he passed for 1,470 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 750 yards while scoring 12

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He was rated the 29th-best player in the state of Georgia and the 54th-best athlete in the country by Rivals.com.

College career

As a true freshman while playing for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, in 2005, he worked his way into the starting lineup at wide receiver and also handled the punt return duties. He started six games and ranked third on the team with 25 catches for 291 yards and returned 18 punts for 83 yards. During his sophomore year in 2006, McKinley started all 13 games and recorded 51 receptions and 880 yards, which ranked second on the team behind Sidney Rice. McKinley's best game was an eight-catch, 110-yard effort against Auburn, the first 100-yard receiving day in his career. He would go on to earn first-team honors from: the SEC coaches (All-SEC), the Associated Press and CollegeFootballNews.com. He was second-team All-SEC by Rivals.com and honorable mention All-America honors from CollegeFootballNews.com. Despite playing with

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most of the year, as the Gamecocks' #1 receiver, McKinley not only led the team but led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in receptions (a then school-record 77), receptions per game (6.42) and in receiving yards per game (80.7). He also was number one at

in yards (968) and touchdowns (9). He had four 100-yard receiving games in 2007, including a school record 14 catch performance against

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where he had a career-best 151 yards. In 2008, McKinley entered his senior year as an

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candidate that was in position to break every

school career receiving record. He began the 2008 campaign ranked tied for fourth in career receptions (153), sixth in career receiving yards (2,139) and tied for sixth in receiving touchdowns (15) in Carolina history. Despite being out of the lineup for a three-game stretch due to a right

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

strain, he set school career records for receptions and receiving yards, while also closing out his career second on the school's all-time touchdown catches list. McKinley also placed his name in the SEC record books. His 207 receptions placed third in conference annals, becoming just the fifth SEC player to amass more than 200 catches in a career. He also became the 12th player in league history to record more than 2,700 receiving yards (2,781).

Professional career

McKinley was selected by the

in the fifth round, 5th pick (141st overall) during the 2009 NFL draft. McKinley played in eight games in 2009 as a kick returner. He returned seven kicks for a total of 158 yards.Stapleton, Arnie, (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

),
Sheriff: Broncos WR Kenny McKinley found dead
''

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'', 21 September 2010. He also recorded 3 special teams tackles. He was placed on

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with a knee injury on December 28, 2009.

Death

McKinley was found dead on September 20, 2010, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was reported as a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by local media, and later confirmed by members of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's office. A 131-page report was released by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department on December 1, 2010, concluding the investigation into McKinley's death. It stated that depression over debt, injury and his post-playing career were the main factors for his suicide. The report stated that McKinley had a

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problem and was deep in debt. His freshman roommate O.J. Murdock was also highly touted going into college, eventually being signed by 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

as an undrafted free agent. Murdock also died by suicide because of depression, injuries, and issues in his personal life on July 30, 2012.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley, Kenny 1987 births 2010 suicides 2010 deaths People from Mableton, Georgia Sportspeople from East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Players of American football from Austell, Georgia American football wide receivers American football return specialists South Carolina Gamecocks football players Denver Broncos players Suicides by firearm in Colorado