Jayron Kearse

Jayron Kearse (born February 11, 1994) is an American football safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL).

Kearse originally committed to play college football at Auburn University in August 2011, but in January 2012, he verbally committed to the University of Miami after the Tigers lost coach Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State.

He posted a picture of himself on his Twitter feed holding a Miami helmet and wearing a Hurricanes sweatshirt standing next to Hurricanes coach Al Golden.

As a senior in 2012, he transferred to South Fort Myers High School.

He played as a safety, running back and wide receiver, helping lead his team to an 11–2 record, after rushing for 528 yards (12.3 yards per carry) and five touchdowns, to go along with five more receiving scores while averaging 18.9 yards per reception; as a safety on defense, he tallied 87 tackles, three sacksand one interception.

Following his senior season, he was invited to play in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Houston, Texas.

Kearse also participated in track & field for the Wolfpack.

Frequently listed as an "athlete" by most recruiting services, Kearse was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 16 athlete in the nation according to both Rivals and 247Sports.com.

He was viewed as the seventh best outside linebacker in the class of 2012 by Scout.com, while MaxPreps listed him as the fifteenth best athlete in the nation and considered him a four-star recruit.

However, after attending camp at Clemson in June, he de-committed from the Hurricanes and ended up committing to Clemson University on August 2, 2012.

Kearse stated: "I chose Clemson because the coaches are genuine people that care about their athletes, and is just a great place to be with a group of guys who all want the best for you."

Kearse accepted a football scholarship from Clemson University, where he focused on playing strong safety under head coach Dabo Swinney from 2013 to 2015.

He amassed 164 total tackles (11.5 tackles for loss), seven interceptions, 11 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles in 1,998 snaps over 40 games with 29 starts in his career.

Two weeks before his freshman season began, Kearse was a candidate to play nickelback in Clemson's five-defensive back formations, but a shoulder injury caused him to miss the end of fall camp and the opener against the University of Georgia, so fellow freshman strong safety Korrin Wiggins moved to nickel and Kearse settled in as Travis Blanks’ backup.

In the following three games of the season, Kearse logged some spare playing time in home blowouts over South Carolina State in week 2 and Wake Forest in week 4 until he was thrust into 75 snaps during Clemson's 49–14 win over the Syracuse Orange in week 5, recording eight tackles and his first career interception.

The following week, he started against Boston College and contributed with 4 tackles.

However, in week 7, Kearse played just three snaps against Florida State.

In the next two weeks, at Maryland and Virginia, a knee injury to Blanks gave Kearse more playing time and he recorded 2 interceptions.

In the season finale against South Carolina, he played all 81 snaps and had 10 tackles.

In the 2014 Orange Bowl 40-35 win against Ohio State, he had 9 tackles and one key interception.

As a true freshman, he played in 12 games with three starts, compiling 55 tackles (0.5 for loss), a career-high four interceptions (led the team) and one forced fumble.

As a sophomore in 2014, he became a full time starter at strong safety (12 out of 13 starts).

He recorded 67 tackles (5 for loss), two interceptions, 7 pass breakups, three sacks and one fumble recovery.

Against the #1 ranked Florida State University, he had 4 tackles and one interception.

He had 4 tackles and one fumble recovery in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl against Oklahoma University.

As a junior in 2015, he used his uncommon size for a safety to provide a physical presence in the Clemson secondary.

He registered 87 tackles (6.5 for loss), one interception, 8 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

He received second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press.

Against Georgia Tech, he shared player of the game honors after setting a career-high 3 tackles for loss.

He made 10 tackles in the 2015 Orange Bowl against Oklahoma University.

He tallied 3 tackles in the National Championship Game loss against the University of Alabama

He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

A native of Fort Myers, Florida, he attended Cypress Lake High School.

As a freshman, he initially measured 5-foot-8 and played safety on defense, before experiencing a growth spurt.

As a sophomore, he was named the starting quarterback on a team that ran a Wing T offense, posting 1,049 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns and 5 passing touchdowns.

As a junior running quarterback, he rushed for 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns.

After the 2016 national championship game, Kearse announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft, with many mock drafts projecting him as a late 1st round selection.

Kearse was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round (244th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft, dropping after posting a 4.62 time in the 40-yard dash and being criticized for taking bad tackling angles.

He mentioned in the media that he watched hopelessly as he was passed on by NFL teams round after round.

"I threw the caps on the ground after I was drafted."