Kerry Rhodes

Kerry Rhodes (born August 2, 1982) is an American football safety for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisville.

Early years
Kerry Rhodes was born in Birmingham, Alabama to Jubrella and Jerome Rhodes and began playing football at nine years old. Kerry was a starting quarterback and honor student at Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer. As a junior, he threw more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 500 yards and three scores in 1998; guiding Lanier to a 10-2 record. During his senior season, Rhodes threw for more than 1,600 yards and ran for another 850. He was also selected Metro Player of the year and first-team All-state in basketball of which he led his team to the 6A title game.

College career
In 2000, he went to the University of Louisville as a quarterback for the Cardinals, but was moved to safety and became one of the team’s best defensive players.

Kerry finished out his first season at Louisville with 10 tackles, two pass breakups and an interception. As a reserve in 2002, he had 18 tackles (12 solos), a forced fumble, two pass deflections, a blocked kick and an interception. Kerry took over chores as a free safety in 2003 and registered a career high with a sack, 82 tackles (61 solos) and three stops for losses. In 2004, He closed out his college career with 167 tackles (101 solos), a 12-yard sack, 18 pass deflections and 11 interceptions for 106 yards in returns. Rhodes was accorded first-team All-Conference USA honors that same year. Although he is clearly one of the great defensive players to have passed through the University of Lousiville

New York Jets
Rhodes was drafted in the 4th round (123rd overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. That same year, he beat out Oliver Celestin for the starting job at strong safety and started in 16 consecutive games in 2005. In his first professional season, Kerry recorded 108 total tackles (85 solo), a sack, an interception, 9 pass deflections and a forced fumble.

2006 was a breakout season for the young safety. On September 24, 2006, he made a pivotal play against J.P. Losman of the Buffalo Bills, stripping the ball from the quarterback's hands and allowing Shaun Ellis to return the fumble for a touchdown. This helped the Jets to a 28-20 victory. He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for week 3. In Week 7, Rhodes intercepted a pass by Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna. In Week 12, during the game against the Houston Texans, Rhodes intercepted a pass by quarterback David Carr in the second half. On Sunday, December 10, 2006, Kerry received the Sparkplug of the Year Award—the highest honor from the Jets Pack, a fan tailgate. Rhodes' statistics at the end of the season were of a Pro Bowl caliber, but Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and John Lynch proved to be more popular in fan voting and earned the nod ahead of the Jets' safety. Kerry was named to the 2006 "All Pro" teams by ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press.

2007 Kerry was ranked #29 out of the top 500 players in the NFL by Peter King for Sports Illustrated.

On April 9, 2008 Kerry signed an extension with the Jets for 5 years worth similar to the five-year, $37.5 million contract that Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders signed in December. Rhodes deal is worth for $33.5 million, with $20 million guaranteed.

Arizona Cardinals
On March 6, 2010, Rhodes was traded from the New York Jets to the Arizona Cardinals for a 2010 4th round pick and a 2011 7th round pick.

Kerry started and played in all 16 regular season games of the 2010-2011 season for the Arizona Cardinals, recording a total of 90 tackles, 78 solo, 12 assists, 1 sack, 12 passes deflected, 4 interceptions returned for a total of 174 yards, longest returned for 66 yards and 4 fumble recoveries. On December 31, 2010, Kerry was awarded The Lloyd Herberg MVP award for the 2010-2011 season by the Arizona chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association.

On Feb 4th, 2011, the Kentucky Chapter of National Football League Players Association Hall announced their new class of 2011. The 2011 Inductees of the hall include players who best represent the sport during 5 decades. Representing for the decade class of 2000 was Kerry Rhodes of University of Louisville, the NY Jets and Arizona Cardinals. The ninth annual induction ceremony will take place on June 24, 2011 at Lexington Opera House.

Personal
Off the field, Kerry is a well known athlete, however his antics have often earned the ire of several of his teammates and coaches. He is known for taking advantage of the "New York" lifestyle. He was on the cover of Essence in August 2007 for his community and foundation work noted as a 2007 "Do Right Man." He has been featured nationally on: The Martha Stewart Show, Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon, CNN Health with Sanjay Gupta, The Biggest Loser, TLC's Cake Boss along side New York Giants defense man Justin Tuck, MTV (Cribs),VH1, BET, ESPN, NFL Network. Print/Online: GQ, People, Details, Fitness Magazine, Us Weekly, NY Mag, Ocean Drive, Essence, Giant, ESPN The Magazine, Indulge Magazine, King, Upscale Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Vibe, Motor Trend, Monarch Magazine among others. Kerry majored in Communications and minored in Theater Arts at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Rhodes maintains his own Twitter page as well as a channel on Locker Blogger where he interacts with fans. Videos: Kerry played the role of the Lead Police Officer in Lady Gaga's #1 video "Paparazzi" as well as playing the lead male role in K. Michelle's video for her debut single Fallin'. Endorsement deals have included Under Armour, Sonu Beverages and Karako suits.

Kerry joined School of the Legends (SOTL) in 2010. A partner of the NFLPA, the organization specializes in connecting student-athletes with current and retired players.

Rhodes Foundation
In 2006, Kerry established The Rhodes Foundation to address the Reaffirming Hopes Of Dream Endearing Scholars living in America’s impoverished neighborhoods. The foundation’s mission supports the educational and financial advancement of young people in underserved high schools nationwide. An event to launch The RHODES Foundation was held on July 19, 2006 at The 40/40 Club in New York sponsored by VIBE, Hpnotiq, MyVibe.tv, Ideal PR, The 40/40 Club and UMM. It was attended by fashion and entertainment names including Laveranues Coles, Jessica White, Donell Jones, Anthony Mackie, Camille McDonald from America's Next Top Model, Cycle 2 and others. In November 2009, Kerry had his 3rd Annual Foundation Celebrity Black Tie Dinner and Celebrity Bowling Bash with sponsorship from Cuttita LLP, Heineken, Merrill Lynch, Moddell's, Muscle Milk, Pamela James Jewellery, Sean John, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Under Armour among others. Attendees included numerous celebrities as well as Coach Rex Ryan and wife,and teammates Jerricho Cotchery, Darrelle Revis, Braylon Edwards, Jay Feely, Vernon Gholston among others.

In 2007 Kerry together with Ideal PR and The Kerry RHODES Foundation created "Catching With Kids" which operates in New York and Alabama neighborhood schools encouraging students through football and general skills how to advance and "catch" all opportunities against all odds.