Kindle Lee Vildor (born December 11, 1997) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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

Georgia Southern Eagles The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to jo ...

and was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the fifth round of 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 ...

. He has also played 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Early life

Vildor was born in the

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its ...

section of

Atlanta 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 grew up in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He attended

North Clayton High School North Clayton High School is a four-year public high school located in unincorporated Clayton County, Georgia, United States, with a College Park postal address. It is part of the Clayton County Public Schools. The school was created in 1937 as ...

. A 2-star cornerback recruit, he committed to Georgia Southern over offers from

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, among others.

College career

Vildor started the final three seasons of his collegiate career. He had 42 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss and also lead the team with 11 passes broken up and four interceptions and was named first-team All-

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 ...

in his junior season. Vildor was named first-team All-Sun Belt for a second straight season and a

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

as a senior after recording 27 tackles, two interceptions and six passes broken up.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Vildor was selected by the

with the 163rd pick in the fifth round of the

. He signed a four-year rookie contract with the team on July 21. Vildor mostly played on special teams during the 2020 season. In the Bears' Week 15 game against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, Vildor made his first NFL start at corner back. In 2020, Vildor played in all 16 games while starting in 1 and had 17 combined tackles and 1 pass defended. In the Bears' Week 11 game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, Vildor got his first career sack on Ravens quarterback

Tyler Huntley Tyler Isaiah Huntley (born February 3, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback. Nicknamed "Snoop", he played college football for the Utah Utes football, Utah Utes, leading them to Pac-12 South Division titl ...

. Overall in 2021, Vildor played in 17 games starting in 12 of them with 46 combined tackles, a sack, and 4 passes defended. Vildor entered the 2022 season as a starting cornerback alongside Jaylon Johnson and

Kyler Gordon Kyler Gordon (born December 17, 1999) is an American professional football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Bears in the second ...

. In a Week 5 game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, he got his first career interception off of

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans football, Mi ...

. He finished the season with 34 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception through 11 games and nine starts. On December 23, 2022, Vildor was placed on season–ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with an ankle injury he had suffered in late November. Vildor was waived on August 29, 2023.

Tennessee Titans

On August 30, 2023, Vildor was claimed off waivers by the

. He was released on October 14.

Philadelphia Eagles

On October 20, 2023, Vildor was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was released on November 13.

Detroit Lions

On November 14, 2023, the

signed Vildor to their practice squad. He was signed to the active roster on December 5. In the final game of the Lions season, while nearly intercepting a long pass from San Francisco's Brock Purdy, the ball hit Vildor directly in the facemask of his helmet and deflected upward to be caught by

Brandon Aiyuk Brandon Aiyuk (; born March 17, 1998) is an American professional football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Sierra College and Arizona State and was selected by the 49e ...

, eventually leading to a touchdown and continuing an unlikely 49ers comeback drive in the

NFC Championship The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

loss. On April 3, 2024, Vildor re-signed with the Lions.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 13, 2025, Vildor signed with the

on a one-year contract.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioGeorgia Southern Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vildor, Kindle 1997 births Living people Players of American football from College Park, Georgia American football cornerbacks Georgia Southern Eagles football players Chicago Bears players Tennessee Titans players Philadelphia Eagles players Detroit Lions players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players