Former NFL linebacker Steve Kiner died Thursday, the National Football Foundation announced. Kiner was 77.
Kiner played at the University of Tennessee from 1967-69, earning consensus All-America honors in 1968 and unanimous All-America honors in 1969. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Kiner appeared in the 1970 Senior Bowl, and the Cowboys selected him in the third round of the 1970 draft. He played nine NFL seasons with Dallas, New England and Houston.
He appeared in 114 games but only 14 of those came with the Cowboys despite his special teams play as a rookie. Kiner, who didn’t start any games as a rookie, was angered when Chuck Howley came out of retirement in 1971, relegating Kiner to a backup role for another season.
The Cowboys traded him to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick.
The Patriots traded him to the Dolphins in 1972, and the Dolphins cut him before training camp ended. Washington claimed him for their taxi squad, but he did not see any game action.
The Patriots claimed him off waivers in 1973 but traded him to the Oilers in 1974 for a ninth-round draft choice.
His last season was 1978.
In 1994, Kiner earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He later established a mental health therapy practice in Carrollton, Georgia.
Born on June 12, 1947, in Sandstone, Minnesota, Kiner was reared in Tampa, Florida, and attended Hillsborough High School.
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