Kingsley-Collins Ezenna Keke (born September 26, 1996) is an American former 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. 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 ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, and was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the fifth round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Kingsley-Collins Ezenna Keke played football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

George Ranch High School George Ranch High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, south of Richmond. The school is part of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. The school was established in fall 20 ...

Richmond, Texas Richmond is a suburb of Houston and the county seat of Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The city is located within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 11,627. History In 1822, a group of Austin's ...

. As a senior, Keke made sixty tackles, ten tackles for loss, five sacks, blocked a pair of kicks, and was a finalist for the Greater Houston Rotary Lombardi Award.

College career

Keke played at Texas A&M from 2015 to 2018. In his career at Texas A&M, he recorded one hundred fifty total tackles, 21

tackles for loss The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, and 12 sacks.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Keke was selected by the

in the fifth round, 150th overall, in the

. On May 3, 2019, he signed his rookie contract with the Packers. In Week 3 of the 2020 season against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, Keke recorded his first two career sacks on

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

during the 37–30 win. In Week 13 against 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 sacked

Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS national championships as the starter. Wentz was s ...

twice and had four total tackles (two for loss) during the 30–16 win. On January 19, 2022, Keke was released by the Packers. He was claimed the following day by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Houston Texans

On January 20, 2022, Keke was claimed off waivers by the Texans. He was waived on May 3, 2022.

Arizona Cardinals

On May 13, 2022, Keke signed with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. He was released on August 14, 2022.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Keke spent a year in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

during his childhood.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keke, Kingsley 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Richmond, Texas American football defensive tackles Texas A&M Aggies football players Green Bay Packers players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Arizona Cardinals players