ELF: Madrid Bravos sign safety Kevin Fortes

| American Football | 12/27/2023

The Madrid Bravos have made yet another splash ahead of their debut European League of Football season with the signing of star French safety Kevin Fortes.

Fortes spent the past two seasons with the Hamburg Sea Devils, where he was named an ELF First-Team All Star in 2022 after recording three interceptions and a forced fumble in nine games on a team which reached the ELF championship game.  In 2023, he had another solid season, recording 48 total tackles, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles in 11 games.  He was arguably the best player on the Sea Devils last season, though the team did finish 4-8.

Before joining the Sea Devils, the 25 year old native of Nogent-sur-Marne, France, spent the previous couple of seasons in the German Football League, as he played for the Saarland Hurricanes in 2019 and the Potsdam Royals in 2021.  Prior to that, he was with the Molosses D’Asnieres in his native France.  In the fall of 2022, he was invited to the NFL International Player Pathway program combine in London.  Fortes is still just 25 years old, and has a lot of football ahead of him.

With the signing of Fortes, the Bravos are getting a big (6’4”, 220 pounds)), rangy safety who is not afraid of contact.  General manager Jaime Martin Lostao has been tasked with building a competitive team from scratch, and from the looks of it, Madrid will be a strong force in just their first year as a franchise.  With the signings of Fortes and another pair of all star defenders in pass rusher Alejandro Fernandez and safety Luke Glenna, Madrid might already have one of the best defenses in the league.  Naturally, they still have plenty of holes to fill, including their quarterback position and other import slots, but in any case, they should not be a pushover in their first year in the ELF.

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.