Kyle Clifton

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.

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. 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. 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