Rodney Eddrick Kinlaw (born April 6, 1985]) is a former professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

. He played for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

and

Mönchengladbach Mavericks The Mönchengladbach Mavericks were an American football team from Mönchengladbach, Germany. The club won promotion to the German Football League in 2010, and qualified for the semi-finals of the play-offs the following year, its greatest succes ...

of the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is a professional American football league in Germany. The league was formed in 1979. In 1999, the league changed to its current name from American-Football-Bundesliga.

. He was signed by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2008, out of

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

Early years

Kinlaw was a standout running back and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

at Stratford High School in

Goose Creek, South Carolina Goose Creek is the most populous city in Berkeley County, South Carolina, Berkeley County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 45,946 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South ...

, where he amassed 1,783 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior. Kinlaw was named Offensive Back-of-the-Year by the ''

Charleston Post and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', f ...

'' and Palmetto Touchdown Club. He was named an

All-America 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 ...

n by SuperPrep and was a finalist for South Carolina's Mr. Football and was named

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 ...

first-team all-state.

College career

Kinlaw, who at one time was considered to be the third best of the three tailbacks in the Nittany Lions' 2003 recruiting class, spent most of his career at Penn State on the

depth chart In sports, a depth chart, primarily in the United States, is used to show the placements of the starting players and the secondary players. Generally a starting player will be listed first or on top while a back-up will be listed below. Depth chart ...

behind Tony Hunt and Austin Scott while nursing a serious ACL injury. He did not see significant playing time until week five of his senior season (2007). Kinlaw's career-best performance came versus

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

that year when he rushed for 168-yards on 27 carries, the most since previous Penn State running back Larry Johnson who had 271 yards rushing in a single game. Solid performances the second half of the 2007 season saw him become the 11th running back in Penn State history to reach 1,000 yards in a season ending with 1,329 yards rushing and 123 yards receiving. His convincing 143-yard performance in the 2007

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the second ...

earned him recognition as the game's offensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

Professional career

New York Jets

On August 1, 2008, the

announced they signed Kinlaw as an

. He was later released on August 26 during the preseason.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Kinlaw was signed by the

of the

on February 9, 2009. However, on April 3, 2009, Kinlaw was released.

Edmonton Eskimos

Kinlaw signed with the

practice roster 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 ...

on August 26, 2009.

Omaha Beef

Kinlaw signed with the

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The Beef plays their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston, Nebraska, Ralston. The Beef competes in the National ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

on December 31, 2009.

Mönchengladbach Mavericks

The

signed Kinlaw to play in the

for the 2011 season.

Personal

Kinlaw is the nephew of former Penn State

n Courtney Brown, who was the No. 1 overall pick by 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 ...

in the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

. Kinlaw earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Labor and Industrial Relations in May 2007. He is working on a second degree, in Sociology.

References

External links

Edmonton Eskimos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinlaw, Rodney 1985 births Living people People from Berkeley County, South Carolina American football running backs Players of Canadian football from South Carolina Canadian football running backs Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Jets players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Edmonton Elks players Omaha Beef players German Football League players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate players of American football