Linebacker Devon Kennard signed a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals last year after being released by the Detroit Lions. It marked a homecoming for him, as he grew up in Arizona and was a stud high school football player.
His father, Derek, played for the Cardinals, so to join the team his father played for and the team he grew up watching and rooting for was special.
However, because of the pandemic, it wasn’t the same.
He appeared on the Jim Rome Show recently and was asked about the 2021 season, his eighth in the NFL.
“Honestly I’m excited to give this year a clean slate and a fresh start, because last year, with how weird it was with COVID, it didn’t hit all the way,” he said.
Playing in front of his home crowd was the same as it would have been because there weren’t really any crowds. There was only limited fan attendance allowed to the Cardinals’ home games for most of the season.
So Kennard is treating 2021 like his first here.
“I’m really looking forward to this season with fans back in the stands and it being more of a normal game day experience,” he said.
Last year was tough on Kennard for more than just the lack of fans in the stadium. He suffered a calf injury and then he had to isolate after testing positive for the virus himself.
He felt “lucky” because he did not have any symptoms, but it was hard on him as a football player because he had to do what he called “caveman workouts” while isolated for 10 days.
“It was pretty funny,” he said. “I stayed near a park, just an open field. I would go and run a bunch of sprints, and I was in the room doing pushups nonstop and trying to figure out how to stay ready.”
Upon returning from his isolation, he didn’t play much after that. His spot in the defensive rotation was taken by Markus Golden, whom the Cardinals re-signed this offseason.
So Kennard would like to have last season back for a couple of reasons.
The Cardinals clearly still have a place and a plan for him. They had the opportunity to release him at the start of the new league year and save money against the salary cap, but they chose not to and his $6.25 million salary is fully guaranteed.
Between catching the virus, getting injured, losing playing time and not getting to play in front of a full stadium of home fans, there is good reason for Kennard to give this coming season a fresh start.
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