Kayvon Thibodeaux facts for kids
Thibodeaux in 2022
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| No. 5 – New York Giants | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | December 15, 2000 South Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 258 lb (117 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, California) |
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| College: | Oregon (2019–2021) | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2022 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2024 | |||||||||||||
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Kayvon Thibodeaux (born December 15, 2000) is a professional American football player. He plays as a linebacker for the New York Giants in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Los Angeles.
In 2018, USA Today named him the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks. There, he earned several awards. These included the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019. He also won the Morris Trophy in 2020. In 2021, he was named a unanimous All-American. The Giants chose him as the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
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Early Life and High School Football
Kayvon Thibodeaux was born in South Los Angeles, California. This was on December 15, 2000. He first played football at Susan Miller Dorsey High School. In 2017, he moved to Oaks Christian School.
During his senior year in 2018, he had 18 sacks and 54 tackles. A sack is when a defensive player tackles the quarterback. For his great performance, USA Today named him the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year.
Throughout his high school career, Thibodeaux made 152 tackles. He also had 54 sacks and forced eight fumbles. He was one of the top-rated players in the 2019 recruiting class. He chose to play college football for the Ducks at the University of Oregon.
College Football Career
Thibodeaux quickly made an impact in college. In 2019, he was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, he won the Morris Trophy for defense. He was also named first-team All-Pac-12. He even won the MVP award in the 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.
In his junior season, he hurt his ankle in the first game. He missed the next two games. But he still had seven sacks in 2021. He was voted a unanimous All-American. After this season, Thibodeaux decided to enter the 2022 NFL draft. He chose to skip his final year of college.
Professional Football Career
The New York Giants picked Kayvon Thibodeaux fifth overall in the 2022 NFL draft. Before his first season, he sprained his MCL in a preseason game.
2022 Season Highlights
Thibodeaux played his first NFL game in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys. In Week 6, he got his first career sack against the Baltimore Ravens. He forced a fumble from quarterback Lamar Jackson. This helped the Giants win the game.
On December 18, 2022, he scored his first career touchdown. He forced a fumble and then recovered it against the Washington Commanders. His excellent play earned him the NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for Week 15.
In Week 17, Thibodeaux sacked Colts quarterback Nick Foles. Some people criticized his celebration after the sack. They felt it was disrespectful. He played in 14 games as a rookie. He finished with four sacks, 49 tackles, and two forced fumbles. He was named to the 2022 PFWA All-Rookie Team.
2023 Season Highlights
In Week 8 against the New York Jets, Thibodeaux had a great game. He recorded three sacks, forced a fumble, and made nine tackles. This was in a close overtime loss.
Later, in Week 14, he forced a fumble from Packers quarterback Jordan Love. He finished his second season with 11.5 sacks. He also had three forced fumbles and four pass deflections.
2024 Season Highlights
Thibodeaux had wrist surgery in Week 5 of the 2024 season. He was placed on injured reserve on October 12, 2024. He returned to play on November 23.
In a Week 17 game against the Colts, Thibodeaux made a strip sack on quarterback Joe Flacco. The Giants recovered the ball. This play helped them win the game and kept the Colts out of the playoffs.
2025 Contract Update
On April 25, 2025, the Giants decided to keep Thibodeaux for another year. They used the fifth-year option on his contract.
NFL Career Statistics
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmb | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | Int | Yds | Lng | PD | TD | |||
| 2022 | NYG | 14 | 49 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 4.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2023 | NYG | 17 | 50 | 26 | 24 | 12 | 11.5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2024 | NYG | 12 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 5.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | 43 | 127 | 73 | 54 | 26 | 21.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
Personal Life and Interests
In July 2021, Thibodeaux worked with Nike CEO Phil Knight. They designed special digital artwork called NFTs. In September 2021, he started his own cryptocurrency called "$JREAM." This was named after the Jream Foundation, which he also started. He earned a degree in journalism-advertising from the University of Oregon.
Thibodeaux loves playing chess. He says he uses chess ideas to improve his football skills. He learned to play chess when he was young by watching his uncles. Playing chess online became a big hobby for him. He even played in a special chess tournament for NFL players called BlitzChamp. Thibodeaux also partly owns a cricket team called the New York Warriors USA Masters T10.
He attended the 2023 Grammys.
See also
In Spanish: Kayvon Thibodeaux para niños
