Kimani Vidal (born August 28, 2001) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division I (NCAA), Division I-A in 2001 in sports, 2001, became a American football, football only member of the ...

and was selected by the Chargers in the sixth round of the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

Early life

Vidal grew up in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and attended Marietta High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Troy over offers from LSU, Memphis, South Alabama, South Carolina and Syracuse.

College career

In week 5 of the 2020 season, Vidal rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown in a win over

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. He finished his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

season in 2020 with 101 carries for 516 yards and four touchdowns, while also hauling in 26 receptions for 225 yards. In week 7 of the 2021 season, Vidal rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries in a 31-28 win over Texas State. He finished the season with 701 yards and five touchdowns on 152 carries, while also bringing in 22 receptions for 134 yards. In week 12 of the 2022 season, Vidal rushed for 242 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Louisiana–Monroe, earning

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

offensive player of the week honors. The following week, he rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns to help beat

Arkansas State Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the state. The university ...

and advance to the Sun Belt championship game. Vidal finished his breakout 2022 season with 1,132 yards and 10 touchdowns on 231 carries, while also notching 26 receptions for 140 yards. For his performance on the season, Vidal was named second-team all-Sun Belt. In the 2023 season opener, Vidal set the Troy single game rushing yard record with 248 yards in a win over Stephen F. Austin. In week 6, he rushed for 245 yards and three touchdowns in a win over

and was named the Sun Belt offensive player of the week. Vidal went on to be named the Sun Belt offensive player of the year and won the MVP award in the 2023 conference championship game after becoming the first player ever to rush for five touchdowns in an FBS conference championship.

Statistics

Professional career

Vidal was drafted by the

with the 181st overall pick in the

. He made his NFL debut in a win over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

on October 13, scoring on his first official touch, a 38-yard touchdown reception from

Justin Herbert Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks football, Orego ...

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Vidal is the son of Kwame and Dayna Vidal. He has one sister, Kaylin. He is the great nephew of

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bioTroy Trojans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Kimani 2001 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football running backs Troy Trojans football players Los Angeles Chargers players