Berlin Thunder re-sign All American defensive lineman Kyle Kitchens

| American Football | 10/19/2023

The Berlin Thunder are bringing back probably the best defensive player in the brief history of the European League of Football, as the team announced that Kyle Kitchens has re-signed with the team for the 2024 season.

Kitchens, 6’2″, 236 pounds, joined the ELF in its first season in 2021, signing with the Leipzig Kings.  He racked up 12.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss in 10 games, which earned him the honor of being the league’s first-ever Defensive Player of the Year.  He signed with the Thunder ahead of the 2022 season and delivered another outstanding campaign.  In 12 games in 2022, he posted a league-leading 16 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss.  Once again, he was named the Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.

In 2023, Kitchens put together another great season in Berlin.  He again led the league in both sacks and tackles for loss, with 15 and 21, respectively.  However, he finally was beaten out for the Defensive Player of the Year honor, as Helvetic Guards cornerback Maceo Beard received the award.  For the first time in three seasons, though, Kitchens’ team made the playoffs, as the Thunder made their first postseason appearance in team history.  Unfortunately for them, they were defeated by the Frankfurt Galaxy in the wild card round.

The native of Decatur, Georgia played collegiately at Catawba College (NCAA Div. 2) in North Carolina where he was a three-time All American and two-time Conference Player of the Year.  After graduating, he joined the Potsdam Royals of the German Football League in 2019 where he led the GFL in sacks (16) and was second in tackles for loss (31).  He spent a couple of seasons in small leagues in the United States before joining the ELF in 2021.  

A current student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carter played football in high school and has been a lifelong avid football fan.