Zach Kerr came oh-so-close to becoming the first player in NFL history to play for two different teams in the playoffs in the same year.
Kerr, a defensive tackle who played at the University of Delaware in 2012 and 2013, was with the Arizona Cardinals for their first-round game against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, Jan. 17.
Kerr, however, didn’t play that night after he was elevated from the practice squad for the game. It should be noted that practice-squad elevations on game days became possible only during the 2020 season. The rule in which up to two players could get the elevation for a game was kept in place this season.
Before 2020, players on the practice squad weren’t allowed to play in games.
Kerr was then signed by the Bengals to their 53-man roster two days later and played in the Bengals’ 19-16 win over the Tennessee Titans three days later, on Jan. 22. He also played in the Bengals’ 27-24 overtime win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game on Jan. 30.
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Had Kerr played for the Cardinals in the wildcard round, he would have beaten fellow defensive lineman Damion Square to the honor of playing in two playoff games for different teams in the same season.
Square, a former Eagle, played for the Raiders in the wildcard round, then was signed to the Bengals’ practice squad on Jan. 25 and played in the AFC Championship game as a practice-squad elevation.
Kerr will have a chance to win a Super Bowl trophy this Sunday, and it could come against the same Rams’ team that Kerr had a chance to face in the wildcard round.
That, no doubt, would make Kerr the first NFL player to be on the roster against the same playoff opponent twice in a playoff season. That, of course, means that he’ll face fellow UD alum and Rams linebacker Troy Reeder.
Kerr and Reeder were never teammates at Delaware as Reeder arrived in 2016 after transferring from Penn State.
No doubt, Kerr will gladly take the chance to play for a Super Bowl, even if his start to his Bengals career was a bit hectic.
Kerr, 31, isn’t complaining. He is finishing up his eighth NFL season, and this is the first time he has played in the postseason.
“It’s been crazy,” Kerr said Thursday at the Super Bowl. “It’s been a whirlwind, for sure. … At first, it was rough just adjusting, just mentally, like, ‘This is where you’re at now. You gotta learn this scheme. You gotta learn this defense.’
“Now, I’ve just been rolling. I just had to adjust my thinking, and roll with the punches. But it’s been really, really wild.”
The unlikely journey began in the hours before that Monday night playoff game for the Cardinals when Kerr had heard that the Bengals, who had beaten the Raiders the day before, were signing him to their 53-man roster.
The Cardinals then lost 34-11 to the Rams as Kerr watched from the sidelines. The next day, he got on a plane to Cincinnati.
“Now, I’m a Bengal, and I’m here to help them win a Super Bowl,” Kerr said.
But really, Kerr’s eight-year NFL career (9.5 sacks and 173 tackles in 95 regular-season games) has been a study in perseverance and adjustments.
It’s reminiscent of another UD star in safety Mike Adams, who carved out a 16-year NFL career with six different teams after going undrafted in 2004.
Kerr was originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and is with his sixth different team (he’s had two stints with the Cardinals). The Bengals are Kerr’s third team this season.
That experience helped him learn the Bengals’ defense in a matter of days, in the middle of the playoffs, no less.
“He’s got high football intelligence,” Bengals defensive line coach Marion Hobby said. “Going through (that first) game week with him, trying to get him caught up on a Wednesday to play on (Saturday). I’ll tell you, he picked up on it Wednesday and Thursday, came in (Friday) morning, had questions.
“He’s been in the NFL for a while, so he’s like: ‘How do you want to play it, Coach? I’ve done it this way.’ He had great answers.”
It showed.
Against the Titans, Kerr had a tackle while playing 23% of the defensive snaps. He played 25% of the snaps in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs.
The Bengals needed all of it. They had lost starting defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi to a season-ending foot injury in the first round.
“When you lose a guy like that, who had such a great impact on our season, it’s felt throughout our whole defense, never mind the D-line room,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said about Ogunjobi. “We had a few guys that we were looking at, and Zach was one of them.
“He had been out in Arizona, and I knew some of those coaches out there. I spoke to them, and they thought the world of him. It’s never an easy thing when you get a guy this late. But it’s a part of our league, and it’s a part of what we do.”
As Kerr put it after signing with the Bengals: “I’ve done that before – practice two days and play.”
In fact, Kerr did it earlier this season. Kerr began the season with the 49ers, playing in four games before he was released on Nov. 6. The Cardinals signed him three days later, and Kerr played that weekend.
Then he did it again, under the pressure of the playoffs. Because Kerr adapted so quickly, and so well, he has a chance for a Super Bowl ring.
“He’s doing a great job,” Bengals defensive end B.J. Hill said. “He came in, just perfect timing, and now he’s playing his tail off and helping us out any way that he can.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
