Lincoln Kennedy
Tamerlane Lincoln Kennedy (born Tamerlane Fizel Kennedy Jr.; February 12, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football at Washington, and was recognized as an All-American. A first-round draft pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders of the NFL and three years for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. He is currently a broadcaster for Fox Sports and Premiere Radio Networks.
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| Position: | Tackle | ||||||||
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| Born: | February 12, 1971 York, Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 335 lb (152 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | San Diego (CA) Morse | ||||||||
| College: | Washington | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1993 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Player stats at ArenaFan.com | |||||||||
Early years
Kennedy was born in York, Pennsylvania,[1] and grew up in the southeast part of San Diego, California. His birth name was Tamerlane Fizel Kennedy Jr., but his mother called him "Little Lincoln", referring to their shared birthday (February 12). The nickname stuck, and Lincoln had it legally changed after college. He graduated from Samuel F. B. Morse High School in San Diego,[2] and played high school football for the Morse Tigers.
College career
Kennedy attended the University of Washington, where he played for the Huskies. In 1991 and 1992, he was the recipient of the Morris Trophy, awarded annually to the outstanding offensive lineman in the Pacific-10 Conference. In 1992, he was also recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.
Kennedy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.[3]
Professional career
National Football League
Kennedy was the ninth overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft taken by the Atlanta Falcons,[4] and he played for the Falcons from 1993 to 1995.[5] He started at left guard throughout his rookie season, but lost the job the following year to another first-year player, Dave Richards out of UCLA. After a disappointing 1995 season, Kennedy was traded to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, where he started at right tackle in all but three games of his seven-year tenure there. In 1999, during a game against the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium, Kennedy went after a fan who hit him in the face with a snowball.[6] As a member of the Raiders, Kennedy was named to three consecutive Pro Bowls and anchored the offensive line in Super Bowl XXXVII.
After leaving the field in 2004, Kennedy's degree in speech communications prepared him to accept a position with the NFL Network as one of the hosts of NFL Total Access. [7]
In 2005, his attempted comeback with the Dallas Cowboys failed due to his inability to pass the team physical.
Arena Football League
In 2007, 2008 and 2010 he played for the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League.
Broadcasting
Kennedy currently works for Fox Sports Radio as show co-host. He is also a co-host on Las Vegas radio station Raider Nation Radio 920 AM. He has called Pac-12 college football games as the color analyst and as a track reporter during NASCAR races. In 2013, he joined the then Oakland Raiders radio broadcast team at Compass Media Networks and in 2018 was promoted to color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger.
Other appearances
Kennedy made an appearance on Arliss in 2000 (Episode: 504: "Comings and Goings"), and appeared in Two and a Half Men in 2005, ("Principal Gallagher's Lesbian Lover"). He appears as himself in the 2006 film The Marine.
Personal life
His son, Zach Banner, was born in December 1993, and is an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. While Banner is his biological son, he was raised by Ron Banner, who married his son's mother and legally adopted him.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Banner had no idea who Lincoln Kennedy was, or that he was his real father, until he was a seventh grader.[15]
Once, not long after the death of John F. Kennedy Jr., Kennedy made the remark on ESPN's SportsCenter that, "My name's Lincoln Kennedy, I ain't got a chance," in reference to the assassination of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy held the all-time record on the "Wall of Fame" at Seattle eatery Shultzy's Sausage before the restaurant changed locations and did away with the Wall. In his record-setting effort, he consumed 11 of the restaurant's signature link sausages on French rolls and a large Coca-Cola within one hour.[16]
See also
- List of Arena Football League and National Football League players
References
- National Football League, Historical Players, Lincoln Kennedy. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- databaseFootball.com, Players, Lincoln Kennedy. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- "NFF Announces 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class". College Football Hall of Fame. January 9, 2015.
- Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 1993 National Football League Draft. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Lincoln Kennedy. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- "Ugly sports incidents nothing new". USA Today. November 20, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
- "Pro Bowl tackle Kennedy to retire". Archived from the original on December 10, 2006. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
- "USC's Zach Banner looks to be first Chamorro drafted in NFL". Kuam News.
- "You wouldn't like him when he's angry, but he's hardly ever angry, so everybody likes him". The Sports Daily. June 19, 2011.
- "TheDawgReport - Recruiting forecast: Banner year in 2012". washington.rivals.com.
- Corcoran, Tully. "Big Man, Big Personality and Big Plans: USC's Zach Banner Is Ready for Stardom". Bleacher Report.
- Fetters, Chris (April 19, 2010). "Zach Banner - A Profile in Character". 247 Sports. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- "Colts Draft USC Offensive Tackle Zach Banner In Round Four". www.colts.com.
- Engichy, Kasmira. "NFL draftee Zach Banner to visit Guam, his roots". Pacific Daily News.
- "Zach Banner - A Profile in Character". ScoutFootball.com.
- "Washington's Willis has appetite for greatness". Retrieved June 21, 2008.