Rashad Fenton (born February 17, 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 ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

. He was selected by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the sixth 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

Fenton played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Miami Carol City in

Miami Gardens, Florida Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 and N ...

, for coach Aubrey Hill, who was coached by

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

. Fenton was ranked as a high end three-star recruit by major recruiting services such as

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

, and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and held numerous Power 5 offers. Fenton chose

South Carolina Gamecocks football The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The South Carolina Gamecocks, Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern ...

over Florida and Louisville.

College career

Fenton played four years of

at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. Fenton was a solid cover corner who has appeared in 48 games while making 30 starts. Fenton recorded 122 tackles, five interceptions, 24 passes defended, one forced fumble along with one fumble recovery. Fenton logged a 24.8-yard career kick return average, second in school history, including one kickoff return for a touchdown. Fenton started off his college football career for the

2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team The 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. T ...

as a true freshman seeing limited time and returning kicks. Coach

resigned mid-season as well. For the 2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team as a true sophomore, Fenton appeared in 12 games with seven starts for first year coach

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is a defensive analyst at the University of Georgia. He previously served as the Bulldogs' co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2022 ...

. For the season Fenton logged 38 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a half a sack, one forced fumble, five pass breakups, and one interception Prior to his senior campaign the 2018 season, Fenton was named to ''

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and no ...

''’ 2018 pre-season fourth-team

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

(SEC) unit. During his senior season in 2018 he was generally considered the Gamecocks top cover corner. Fenton also split his season playing time at nickel and safety during the 2018 season while starting 12 of 13 games. Fenton recorded 34 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, six pass breakups, and 3 interception (tied for seventh in the SEC). In fact, Fenton had interceptions in three consecutive SEC games, picking off Georgia’s

Jake Fromm William Jacob Fromm (born July 30, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Fromm has also been ...

, Vanderbilt’s

Kyle Shurmur Kyle Shurmur (born November 6, 1996) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played quarterback in college football at Vand ...

and Kentucky’s Terry Wilson. Fenton was nominated by his peers and received the “Unselfish Teammate Award” in 2018.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

Fenton was drafted by the

in the sixth round with the 201st overall pick in the

. In Week 11 against 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 ...

on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'', Fenton recorded his first career interception off

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the ...

in the 24–17 win. In Week 13 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Fenton forced a fumble during a kickoff return on Trevor Davis which was recovered by teammate Dorian O'Daniel in the 40–9 win. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against 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 ...

, Fenton recorded a sack on wide receiver

Kenny Stills Kenneth Lee Stills Jr. (born April 22, 1992) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Oklahoma and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. Early life Sti ...

during the 51–31 win. Fenton won

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 NFL season, 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2019 Kansas City Chiefs season, Kansas City ...

with the Chiefs after they defeated the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

by a score of 31–20. Fenton appeared in all 16 regular season matchups. In Week 4 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, Fenton recorded his first interception of the season during the 26–10 win. He injured both of his ankles following the Chiefs' Week 17 loss to the

, causing him to miss the Divisional Round win over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. He returned for the 2020 AFC Championship game, where he intercepted

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

' quarterback

Josh Allen Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...

in the red zone off a deflection, and returned it 30 yards to preserve a 16-point fourth quarter lead. It was Allen's first career red zone interception in three seasons of being a starter. The Chiefs would go on to win the game to advance to

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

where they would lose 31–9 to 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 ...

Atlanta Falcons

Fenton was traded to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

on November 1, 2022, in exchange for a conditional seventh-round selection in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Arizona Cardinals

On March 30, 2023, Fenton 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 placed on

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 ...

on August 14, 2023.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Rashad 1997 births Living people American football cornerbacks Kansas City Chiefs players Atlanta Falcons players Arizona Cardinals players Players of American football from Miami South Carolina Gamecocks football players Miami Carol City Senior High School alumni