Kenneth Dwayne Vaccaro was born on February 15,1991 and is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League and founder and CEO of the Gamers First organization.
44 Facts About Kenny Vaccaro
2.
Kenny Vaccaro was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft and played for the Tennessee Titans.
3.
The eldest of four children, Kenny Vaccaro was born and raised in Brownwood, Texas by a widowed mother.
4.
Kenny Vaccaro attended Brownwood High School before transferring to Early High School in nearby Early, Texas for his senior year and played football at both schools, earning all-district and all-state honors.
5.
Kenny Vaccaro competed in athletics in both running and field events and had career-bests of 13.26 meters in triple jump and 6.48 meters in long jump.
6.
Kenny Vaccaro enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, where he played for coach Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns football team from 2009 to 2012.
7.
Kenny Vaccaro sacked quarterback Sam Bradford in the 2009 Red River Rivalry.
8.
Kenny Vaccaro had nine tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass breakups before the game was over.
9.
Kenny Vaccaro finished the season with 54 total tackles, one interception, four tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and eight passes defended.
10.
Kenny Vaccaro started all 13 games as a safety during his junior year and finished the season as a solid starter for the Texas Longhorns.
11.
Kenny Vaccaro had 82 total tackles with 8 for a loss, 2.0 sacks, 8 pass breakups and 2 interceptions.
12.
Kenny Vaccaro attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills.
13.
On March 26,2013, Kenny Vaccaro participated at Texas' pro day, but did not perform any drills due to a hip injury.
14.
Kenny Vaccaro attended private workouts and visits with a few teams, including the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, and New Orleans Saints.
15.
Kenny Vaccaro was ranked as the top safety prospect in the draft by DraftScout.
16.
Kenny Vaccaro was the first safety drafted in 2013 and was the highest safety drafted from the University of Texas since Earl Thomas in 2010.
17.
On May 9,2013, Kenny Vaccaro signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $9.42 million contract with a signing bonus of $5.23 million.
18.
Kenny Vaccaro became the starting strong safety in Week 3 after Roman Harper sustained a knee injury.
19.
Kenny Vaccaro remained in concussion protocol and was inactive for the Saints' Week 11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
20.
On December 25,2013, the Saints placed Kenny Vaccaro on injured reserve as he underwent ankle surgery.
21.
Kenny Vaccaro finished his rookie season with 79 combined tackles, eight pass deflections, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception in 14 games and 14 starts.
22.
Kenny Vaccaro received an overall grade of 82.6 from Pro Football Focus and had the 13th highest grade among all qualifying safeties in 2013.
23.
Kenny Vaccaro entered training camp slated as the starting strong safety after Roman Harper departed for the Carolina Panthers during free agency.
24.
Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan named Kenny Vaccaro the starting strong safety to begin the regular season, along with free safety Jairus Byrd.
25.
Kenny Vaccaro was inactive for the Saints' Week 17 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to a quadriceps injury.
26.
Kenny Vaccaro received an overall grade of 42.8 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked as the 83rd highest grade among all qualifying safeties in 2014.
27.
Kenny Vaccaro started in all 16 games in 2015 and recorded a career-high 104 combined tackles, five pass deflections, three sacks, and a forced fumble.
28.
Kenny Vaccaro was inactive for the Saints' Week 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons due to an ankle injury.
29.
On November 10,2016, it was reported that Kenny Vaccaro was facing a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs for using Adderall and planned to appeal.
30.
On December 9,2016, Kenny Vaccaro dropped his plan to appeal and accepted the four-game suspension.
31.
Kenny Vaccaro served his suspension and was inactive for the last four games of the 2016 season.
32.
Kenny Vaccaro finished the season with 68 combined tackles, five pass deflections, two forced fumbles, an interception, and a sack in 11 games and 11 starts.
33.
Kenny Vaccaro's grade was the 38th highest among all qualifying safeties in 2016.
34.
Kenny Vaccaro entered training camp facing competition from Vonn Bell and rookie second-rounder Marcus Williams.
35.
Head coach Sean Payton named Kenny Vaccaro the starting strong safety to begin the regular season, alongside free safety Vonn Bell.
36.
Kenny Vaccaro missed two games after injuring his groin.
37.
On December 21,2017, the Saints officially placed Kenny Vaccaro on injured reserve due to a wrist and groin injury.
38.
Kenny Vaccaro had been playing with an injured adductor muscle that had torn off the bone and required surgery to repair his wrist.
39.
Kenny Vaccaro finished the season with 60 combined tackles, seven pass deflections, 3.5 sacks, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown in 14 games and 14 starts.
40.
However, in the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Kenny Vaccaro suffered an elbow injury during the second quarter.
41.
Kenny Vaccaro finished the 2018 season with 58 tackles, two sacks, four pass deflections, and one interception.
42.
On March 11,2019, Kenny Vaccaro signed a four-year, $26 million contract extension with the Titans with $11.5 million guaranteed.
43.
On March 10,2021, Kenny Vaccaro was released by the Titans.
44.
Kenny Vaccaro traveled to Kenya during the 2016 offseason with former Texas and Saints teammate Alex Okafor and is involved in community and fundraising efforts to construct a school in the region.