Kyle Clifton
| No. 59 | |||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1962-08-23) August 23, 1962Olney, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 236 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Bridgeport (Bridgeport, Texas) | ||||||||||
| College | TCU | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1984: 3rd round, 64th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Ronald Kyle Clifton (born August 23, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 13 seasons with 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.[1][2]
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.[3] 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.[4] Clifton attended high school in Bridgeport, Texas.
NFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | 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 | 160 | – | – | 0.0 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1986 | NYJ | 16 | 16 | 174 | – | – | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1987 | NYJ | 12 | 8 | 51 | – | – | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | NYJ | 16 | 15 | 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 |
| Career | 204 | 149 | 1,484 | 20 | 16 | 5.5 | 12 | 74 | 0 | 13 | 15 | |