Christian Kirksey

BIOGRAPHY

Christian Kirksey was born on August 31, 1992, in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at the University of Iowa and is a linebacker in the National Football League. In his early years, Kirksey attended Hazelwood East High School where he played football. He was a first-team all-conference as a senior after earning honorable mention recognition as a junior. As a senior, he recorded 163 tackles with nine tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and he also helped his team win the state championship in his junior season and returned to playoffs the following year. Kirksey was considered a three-star recruit by the Rivals.com recruiting network. 

After finishing high school, Kirksey committed to the University of Iowa where he played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team. As a freshman in 2010, he played in 10 games, primarily on special teams, recording six total tackles while in 2011, he started all 13 games for the Hawkeyes, recording 62 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, three pass break-ups, and two forced fumbles. As a junior in 2012, he was named a team captain and started all 12 games, recording 95 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two QB sacks. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, one for 68 yards against Minnesota and one for 18 yards against Indiana, had four recovered fumbles, two pass breakups, and one forced fumble. In 2013, as a senior and team captain, he started all 13 games as an outside linebacker, finishing third on the team with 104 tackles. He also had five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, two recovered fumbles and two forced fumbles, one interception, and one pass break-up and he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten following the season.

After graduating from college, Kirksey accepted his invitation to appear in the 2014 Senior Bowl on December 30. On January 25, 2014, he participated at the Senior Bowl and recorded six combined tackles with 1.5 tackles for a loss against the South where he had an impressive performance playing for former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith's North team. Kirksey was one of 35 collegiate linebackers to receive an invitation to attend the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was projected to be a fourth or fifth-round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts and was ranked as the 13th best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Entering the 2014 NFL Draft, Kirksey was selected in the third round by the Cleveland Browns. On June 5, 2014, the Cleveland Browns signed Kirksey to a four-year contract and was named the backup right inside linebacker to begin the season. He made his professional regular-season debut in the Browns season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers where he recorded one solo tackle and made his first career sack on Ben Roethlisberger and the following week, he earned the first start of his career against the New Orleans Saints. He finished his rookie season with 81 combined tackles with 47 solo tackles, two sacks, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble in eight starts, 16 games, and 343 defensive snaps.

In 2015, Kirksey was named the backup inside linebacker to begin the regular season. On October 4, 2015, Kirksey earned his first start of the season against the San Diego Chargers where he recorded five combined tackles and a sack on Philip Rivers. He finished the 2015 season with 63 combined tackles with 40 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a pass deflection in 16 games and five starts. In the 2016 season, Kirksey was named the starting inside linebacker to start the season. Kirksey had an impressive 2016 season and led the Browns with 148 combined tackles with 96 solo tackles, 2.5 sacks, and three pass deflections in 16 games and 16 starts. On May 30, 2017, the Cleveland Browns signed Kirksey to a four-year contract extension and he was moved from starting inside linebacker to starting weakside linebacker to begin the season. He finished the season with 136 combined tackles with 86 solo tackles, five pass deflections, and 3.5 sacks in 16 games and 16 starts and his 138 tackles finished second in the team, behind Joe Schobert's 144 and Kirksey was given an overall grade of 59.6 by Pro Football Focus, ranking 52nd among all qualified linebackers in 2017. In the 2018season, on October 14, Kirksey made his first career interception off quarterback Philip Rivers against the Los Angeles Chargers. He ended the season with 43 combined tackles where 29 of them were solo in 7 games.  

In 2021 he signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans.