Ian Kennelly Ready To Be 'Sponge' in Lions' Safeties Room

Each year, NFL franchises enter training camp with a variety of players on the “roster bubble.” This year is no different for the Detroit Lions and the multi-billion-dollar league’s 31 other organizations. 

Safety Ian Kennelly, an undrafted free-agent signing of the Lions out of Grand Valley State, is one of the many aforementioned players who will have to prove his worth this summer. His candidacy for a roster spot is off to a good start, too, after an impressive showing on day one of training camp Sunday. 

Most notably, the Macomb, Mich., native recorded a pass breakup that fired up both sides of the ball at the Lions’ Allen Park practice facility. It was a moment that Kennelly – who battled through a shoulder injury in June – had been working toward for a long time. 

“It felt really good. It’s been a long time coming,” Kennelly said of the pass deflection. “It’s been a long offseason. So, just to get my hand on a ball, it felt really good to just kind of get that under my belt.”

Kennelly, who attended Utica (Mich.) Eisenhower High School, grew up watching and rooting on the Lions. Now a member of his hometown NFL team, life has come full circle for the rookie. 

“Being a hometown kid, playing for the Lions, it means everything to me,” the defensive back expressed. “I’ve been working hard for this day for a long time. Just to be here in this moment, it’s really a dream come true. I don’t know if there’s anything else I can really say besides for that.”

Kennelly, who earned a spot on Detroit’s training camp roster by wowing coaches on the team’s local pro day, is in for a battle to crack the Lions’ 53-man roster. 

The Division II product is in contention for the organization’s fourth and final safety position along with 2025 seventh-round pick Dan Jackson, Morice Norris, Loren Strickland and Erick Hallett.