Kayvon Thibodeaux
Kayvon Thibodeaux ( ; born December 15, 2000) is an American football outside linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League. A native of Los Angeles, he played high school football at Iona Prep School and was named "USA Today" High School Football Defensive Player of the Year in 2018. He played college football at Oregon. Following high school, Thibodeaux attended the University of Oregon to play college football for the Ducks. He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019, won the Morris Trophy in 2020, and was voted a unanimous All-American  in 2021. He was drafted by the Giants fifth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. High school career. Thibodeaux was born in South Los Angeles, California, on December 15, 2000. He attended and played football at Susan Miller Dorsey High School for two years before transferring to Oaks Christian School in 2017. He was named the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year by the "USA Today" after recording 18 sacks and 54 tackles during his senior season in 2018. Thibodeaux recorded 152 total tackles, 54 sacks, and eight forced fumbles during his high school career, and was the  second-highest rated overall player in the 2019 recruiting class. He accepted a scholarship to play college football for the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon over several other offers. College career. Thibodeaux was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019. As a sophomore, he won the Morris Trophy on defense and was named first-team All-Pac-12 while also winning MVP honors of the 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. Thibodeaux suffered a sprained ankle in the first game of his junior season, and sat out the following two games. He recorded seven sacks in 2021  and was unanimously voted to the 2021 College Football All-America Team. Following the season, Thibodeaux announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the 2022 NFL Draft. Professional career. Thibodeaux was selected fifth overall by the New York Giants in the 2022 NFL Draft. His selection marked the first time the Giants drafted a first round pass-rusher since Jason Pierre-Paul in 2010. It was also the first time the Giants drafted a pass-rusher in the Top 5 since Cedric Jones in 1996. Personal life. In July 2021, Thibodeaux announced a collaboration with Nike  CEO Phil Knight and shoe designer Tinker Hatfield to design non-fungible token (NFT) artwork. He launched his own cryptocurrency, "$JREAM", in September 2021. It was named after the Jream Foundation, which Thibodeaux also founded.