Wednesday, April 20, 2016

McKenzie happy with new jersey number

The No. 1 jersey was always an interesting look for Kahlil McKenzie. That isn’t a number commonly associated with 6-foot-3, 344-pound defensive tackles.

Tennessee sophomore defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie (Photo: Adam Lau, Knoxville News Sentinel)
The No. 99 jersey, however, is hand-and-glove.

And that’s the jersey McKenzie will wear as a sophomore for the Vols.

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McKenzie will wear the same jersey number that many defensive tackle stars have worn over the years. One of those players (the retired Warren Sapp) starred for the Oakland Raiders, who current general manager is Reggie McKenzie — a former Vols star and Kahlil McKenzie’s father.

“After the bowl game, I sat down and talked with Coach (Butch Jones), and it was like, ‘Shoot, let’s see if we can do it,’” McKenzie said after Saturday’s Orange & White Game in Neyland Stadium.


Jones eventually allowed McKenzie to wear the No. 99 jersey for Saturday’s game, but he made the big sophomore wear No. 1 throughout spring practice.

McKenzie said he was happy for the switch and happy to allow incoming defensive end Jonathan Kongbo — the nation’s No. 1 overall junior college prospect in the 2016 industry-generated 247Sports Composite — to wear the No. 1 jersey.

“He came through for me. Coach Jones always does,” McKenzie said. “I got to wear it out here today. I’d been wearing No. 1 all spring, but I finally got my weight down and all that kind of stuff, so I said, ‘I might as well be able to wear that 99.’ It was pretty cool to be able to do that.”

Source : http://tennessee.247sports.com/Article/Tennessee-Vols-Kahlil-McKenzie-happy-with-new-jersey-number-44884730

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