Thomas Keiser (born March 28, 1989) is an

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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. Keiser played college football at Stanford University.

Early years

Keiser attended high school at

North Allegheny Senior High School North Allegheny Senior High School (NASH) is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974. In 2013 ...

and played for the Tigers before graduating in 2007.

College career

Keiser played college football at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He entered the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York ...

after his junior season.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Keiser was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

on July 30, 2011. He was waived on September 4, 2011, but was re-signed to the Panthers’ practice squad on September 6, 2011. Keiser was signed to the active roster on November 8, 2011. He was waived by the Panthers on May 13, 2013.

San Diego Chargers

Keiser signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

on May 17, 2013. He was released on August 31, 2013, but was signed to the Chargers' practice squad on September 1, 2013. Keiser was signed to the active roster on October 1, 2013. Keiser proved to be a physical linebacker, playing 12 games, while starting 3, collecting 21 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and an interception. Keiser intercepted

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Col ...

in week 15 to seal the game and win for the chargers. He was released on August 30, 2014.

Arizona Cardinals

Keiser was claimed off waivers by 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, an ...

on August 31, 2014. He was released on November 14, 2014.

San Jose SaberCats

Keiser was assigned to the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL) on December 3, 2014. He was placed on reassignment on March 27, 2015.

Personal life

Keiser is married to Heimana Vaea-Maafu-Moimoi Keiser.

References

External links

Thomas Keiser Official Website
*
Carolina Panthers bio

San Diego Chargers bio

r {{DEFAULTSORT:Keiser, Thomas 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football defensive ends American football linebackers Stanford Cardinal football players Carolina Panthers players San Diego Chargers players Arizona Cardinals players San Jose SaberCats players