Kyle Clifton
{{Short description|American football player (born 1962)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Kyle Clifton
| number = 59
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|8|23}}
| birth_place = Olney, Texas, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lb = 236
| high_school = Bridgeport (Bridgeport, Texas)
| college = TCU
| draftyear = 1984
| draftround = 3
| draftpick = 64
| pastteams =
- New York Jets ({{NFL Year|1984|1996}})
| highlights =
- 3× NFL combined tackles leader (1985, 1986, 1988)
| statlabel1 = Tackles
| statvalue1 = 1,484
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 5.5
| statlabel3 = Interceptions
| statvalue3 = 12
| statlabel4 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue4 = 13
| pfr = ClifKy20
}}
Ronald Kyle Clifton (born August 23, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 13 seasons with the for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, he was selected by the Jets in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft with the 64th overall pick.{{cite news |author=Eskenazi, Gerald |title=In His 13th Season, Clifton Knows the Angles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/30/sports/pro-football-in-his-13th-season-clifton-knows-the-angles.html |website=The New York Times |date=July 30, 1996 |accessdate=October 10, 2019}}{{Cite web |title=1984 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1984/draft.htm |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
He led the NFL in solo tackles with 160 in 1985, 174 in 1986 and 162 in 1988. Additionally, he was in the top 10 of NFL solo tacklers in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. He briefly took the lead in career combined tackles away from Clay Matthews in 1993. He announced his retirement on February 14, 1997.{{cite news |author=Mallozzi, Vincent M. |title=Clifton, a Career Jet, Retires |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/15/sports/clifton-a-career-jet-retires.html |website=The New York Times |date=February 15, 1997 |accessdate=October 10, 2019}} At the time of his retirement, he was the second-leading tackler in NFL history and remains the Jets' all-time leading tackler. Clifton made 1,484 tackles over the course of his professional career ranking him 10th overall in combined tackles since 1987.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=NFL Tackles Combined Career Leaders (since 1987)|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/tackles_combined_career.htm|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=November 6, 2020|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com}} Clifton attended high school in Bridgeport, Texas.
NFL career statistics
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="4"| Tackles ! colspan="3"| Interceptions ! colspan="2"| Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR |
| 1984 | NYJ
| 16 || 9 || 113 || – || – || 0.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1985 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || style="background:#cfecec;"|160 || – || – || 0.0 || 3 || 10 || 0 || 2 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1986 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || style="background:#cfecec;"|174 || – || – || 0.0 || 2 || 8 || 0 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1987 | NYJ
| 12 || 8 || 51 || – || – || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1988 | NYJ
| 16 || 15 || style="background:#cfecec;"|162 || – || – || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1989 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 162 || – || – || 2.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1990 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 199 || – || – || 0.5 || 3 || 49 || 0 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1991 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 146 || – || – || 1.0 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1992 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 138 || – || – || 1.0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 4 | |||||||||
| 1993 | NYJ
| 16 || 16 || 143 || – || – || 1.0 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1994 | NYJ
| 16 || 5 || 32 || 19 || 13 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1995 | NYJ
| 16 || 0 || 4 || 1 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1996 | NYJ
| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ClifKy20.htm Career] || 204 || 149 || 1,484 || 20 || 16 || 5.5 || 12 || 74 || 0 || 13 || 15 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Jets1984DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Kyle}}
Category:People from Olney, Texas
Category:Players of American football from Young County, Texas
Category:American football linebackers
Category:TCU Horned Frogs football players
Category:New York Jets players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
{{linebacker-1960s-stub}}