Who is Kendall Hinton?

By: Nestor Torrez

Kendall Hinton is an American football wide receiver/emergency quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was born on February 19, 1997. He played college football at Wake Forest as a wide receiver and also a role as a backup quarterback, which is fitting. He signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2020, in which he made an appearance as an emergency quarterback following ALL of the team’s quarterbacks being placed in COVID-19 Reserve. Meaning that, Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and 3rd string Jeff Driskel. In doing so, Hinton became the first non-quarterback to play an entire game at the position in an NFL game since running back Tom Matte did so for the Indianapolis Colts way back in 1965. And even then Tom Matte only played a significant amount of snaps!

Any how, Hinton played quarterback at Southern Durham High School in Durham, North Carolina. As a high school junior, Hinton threw for 3,972 yards and 39 touchdowns in flashy fashion to a 3–AA championship title! Rated a three-star prospect. Hinton committed to play college football at Wake Forest on June 11, of 2014. As a true freshman in 2015, Hinton played in nine games and started in two of them. In the nine games, he threw for 929 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 390 yards and seven touchdowns. Against Army on September 19, Hinton replaced injured starting quarterback John Wolford at the time in the first quarter of the game, and led the Demon Deacons to a 24–21 win by passing for 159 yards and two touchdowns! The next week against Indiana, Hinton made his first career start in place of former starter Wolford, and had 245 yards passing along with 57 yards rushing and two touchdowns yet unfortunately in a close 31–24 loss. Hinton’s 245 passing yards set a Wake Forest school record for most passing yards by a player in his first career start! He started again the following week against Florida State on October 3, throwing for 215 yards in another loss.

As a sophomore, Hinton suffered a sprained ankle in the Deacon Demons Week 3 game against Delaware. Initially expected to only miss 2–4 weeks, Hinton unfortunately did not play for the remainder of the season and was granted a medical redshirt. Now, as a redshirt sophomore, Hinton served as the primary backup quarterback to again, John Wolford in 2017, starting one game against Clemson in place of once again, an injured Wolford. Hinton completed 14 of 30 passes for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns yet in another 28–14 loss. Now, as a junior the future undrafted rookie was projected to be the starting quarterback entering the season, Unfortunately he was suspended for the first three games of the season for violating team rules. A few other teamates as well none the less. Yet, following his return from suspension, Hinton was named the backup quarterback to true freshman Sam Hartman. Despite entering the transfer portal at the end of his redshirt junior year, Hinton opted to return to Wake Forest for his redshirt senior season. In his redshirt senior season, Hinton transitioned to playing slot receiver full-time, racking up 73 receptions for 1,001 yards and four touchdowns! Which suited him more better if you ask me.

After college Hinton signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2020. Though He was waived on September 5, 2020, he re-signed with their practice squad on November 4, 2020. In late November 2020, all four Broncos quarterbacks were ruled ineligible to play in a Week 12 game against the New Orleans Saints due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols, so Hinton was elevated to the active roster as an emergency quarterback option for the 3 Time Super Bowl Champions. Hinton subsequently completed only a single pass out of nine attempts for 13 yards, while also recording two interceptions and a passer rating of zero as the Broncos lost significantly with a whopping score of 31–3. Hinton was reverted back to the practice squad following the game. Now, if you ask me it takes a lot of guts to come straight from the practice squad. To practically the face of the team in one day. The man never took an NFL snap is his career for crying out loud. Kendall Hinton has a bright future ahead of him. @ ME.