Kennards take pride in becoming third father and son to play for Cardinals,
Derek Kennard was looking forward to spending Father’s Day with a scrumptious family dinner at one of his favorite Valley Italian restaurants. He was also looking forward to his son, Devon, picking up the tab.
Because of recent rising spikes in positive COVID-19 tests around Arizona, the family planned to stay home on Sunday. The risk just isn’t worth it.
“It’s too bad,” the elder Kennard said. “Normally, Dad picks up the tab. But the tables have turned and now it’s his turn. He’s got the money. We’ll just have to celebrate at the house, I guess.”
It’s still going to be a fantastic celebration in the Kennard household. In March, Devon, 28, agreed to a threeyear, $20 million free-agent deal with the Cardinals. It means he will be joining the same organization for which his father played from 1986-90, starring as an interior offensive lineman.
“My Dad was super excited,” Devon said during his introductory news conference call. “The fact that father and son are able to play for the same organization? I don’t know how many times that’s happened, but I’m sure it’s not that common. To have that kind of opportunity and for it to be home where my family lives and everything, it’s really cool.”
When the 2020 season finally starts, the Kennards will officially become the third set of fathers and sons to have played for the Cardinals’ franchise, joining Terry (1973-77) and Eric Metcalf (1998) and Kevin (1996-97) and Drew Butler (2014-16).
Derek Kennard was in his car listening to a sports radio station when he got word the Lions were going to release his son the following day, primarily because of salary cap concerns. So, Dad did what any Dad would do with some inside pulls to the local NFL franchise.
He immediately called someone in power within the Cardinals’ organization.
“I said to myself, ‘Hey, the Cardinals better jump on it right away because he won’t be out there very long,’ ” Derek Kennard said. “I called the Cardinals’ office to find out if they had him on their (free-agent) board because the draft was coming up as well, and I said, ‘You guys got an opportunity here and you better jump on him.’
“I won’t tell you who it was, but they told me, ‘We’ve got him on our board and we’re going to get him off the board as soon as possible.’ I was like, ‘Oh crap. OK. You guys are interested. Good.’ They (the Lions) let him go the next day and immediately the Cardinals picked him up and we were as excited as hell.”
Father and son were actually together when the news came in. They were at a Valley training center, in the men’s room, at the time. Devon was on the phone with his agent. Derek had to use the facilities.
“I walked in and he said, ‘Dad, it’s about to happen,’ ” Derek recalled. “It was a really, really exciting time. What a wonderful opportunity. I know we’re talking about another story going on here with me and my son, but man, on paper, the roster that (General Manager) Steve Keim has put together is something. Man, he might get Executive of the Year if they’re able to pull this off and get into the playoffs with this roster.
“When Devon was in Detroit and New York (with the Giants), he always needed a guy on the other side to be a door-stopper or somebody to help him chase the quarterback. Now he has one (in All-Pro outside linebacker Chandler Jones) and let me tell you, the opposing quarterback is going to be on the run.”
Derek joked that the Cardinals’ collection of inside linebackers, from Jordan Hicks and DeVondre Campbell to rookie Isaiah Simmons and Haason Reddick, are going to have to get together with his son and Jones to “have have a team meeting in the middle with the quarterback.”
For the record, the elder Kennard said he is a big fan of the Cardinals selecting the 6-foot-4 Simmons with the No. 8 overall pick in this year’s draft, especially because of how he can help Arizona’s defense when it comes to covering opposing tight ends.
“He can’t only rush the passer, but he can cover the tight end and that was a big problem with the Cardinals last year,” Kennard said of Simmons, the All-American from Clemson. “You got a 6-6, 6-7 tight end with a guy that’s 5-9 covering him. C’mon man, it was just like eating Cheerios on top of the heads of our guys.
“Nothing against our DBs, man, but …”
When Devon Kennard first met with reporters, he talked about how special it would be to follow in his father’s footsteps and play for his hometown franchise. He never thought it was possible, but mentioned how he and his friends and teammates at Tempe Desert Vista High School had often talked about it.
“We’d always have conversations like, ‘How cool it would be if I played for the Cardinals one day?’ ” Devon said. “It’s one of those things you didn’t think would actually happen, like a what-arethe-chances type of deal. When it did, it was like, ‘Wow!’ ”
When the signing became official, the Cardinals posted a photograph of father and son with a very young Devon sitting atop Derek’s shoulders moments after the latter had won Super Bowl XXX in Arizona as a member of the Cowboys.
“I still got that photo somewhere,” Derek said. “That photo was on the back page of Sports Illustrated and it was right when we were hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy into the air. That was an awesome picture, it totally captured the moment and we were both super excited.”
The next-best moment, Derek said, will be when the NFL lets fans into stadiums to watch the games, although with the ongoing pandemic, no one knows for sure when that will happen. So, until he gets to watch his son Devon play in person in the same uniform he used to wear, Derek will have to settle for a celebratory Father’s Day with Devon and the entire family.
“I don’t cook,” Derek said, laughing, “so they better take care of old Dad.”