Ryan Kalil

Born in Tucson, Arizona and raised in Corona, California, Kalil went to Servite High School in Anaheim, California, where he was teammates with future New England Patriots wide receiver/special teams and fellow NFL future All Pro Matthew Slater.

Kalil attended the University of Southern California, where he played for the USC Trojans football team. He was a 2005 Sports Illustrated All-American, won the USC Trojans' Bob Chandler Award in 2005 and Courage Award in 2004, and was on the watch list for the Lombardi Award.

Kalil was on the official watch list for the Rimington Trophy for the top college football center and the Outland Trophy watch list for the best lineman. He was named to the 2005 and 2006 Pac-10 coaches and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 team First Team.[4] He was a Pro Football Weekly All-American choice and a Rivals.com second-team All American and SI.com honorable mention All-American.

Kalil was voted "lineman of the year" by his Trojans teammates and won the 2006 Morris Trophy. He was invited to play in the Senior Bowl prior to the 2007 NFL Draft.

In 2003, Kalil and the Trojans finished the regular season 11–1 and ranked No. 1 in the AP and coaches' polls. However, USC was left out of the BCS championship game after finishing third in the BCS behind Oklahoma and LSU. The Trojans went to the Rose Bowl and played University of Michigan. That 2003 season saw split national champions, as LSU won the BCS title, while USC was crowned champion by the AP. Kalil appeared in two BCS Championship Games: 2005’s win against the University of Oklahoma[5] and 2006’s loss to University of Texas.[6]

Pre-draft predictions turned out to be correct, as Kalil was selected in the second round of the draft with the 59th pick by the Carolina Panthers. He was the first center to be selected in the 2007 draft and joined his teammate from the USC Trojans, Dwayne Jarrett, who the Panthers also selected in the second round.

In 2007, Kalil started three games at center.

In 2008, Kalil was named the full-time starter at center. He started in all 12 games that he appeared, missing four games due to injury.

In 2011, Kalil received a franchise tag from the Carolina Panthers.[10]

On August 19, 2011, the Panthers signed Kalil to a six-year $49 million deal, making him the highest paid center in NFL history.[11] He was selected to the Pro Bowl as the starting center of the NFC team.

On February 7, 2016, Kalil was part of the Panthers team that played in Super Bowl 50. In the game, the Panthers fell to the Denver Broncos by a score of 24–10.[12]

It was announced on December 23, 2015 that Kalil was one of ten players on the Carolina Panthers voted into the 2016 Pro Bowl, making it his fifth appearance.[13] He could not play in the Pro Bowl due to the Panthers appearance in Super Bowl 50. For the 2015 season, PFF rated Kalil as the third-best run-blocking center in the NFL.[14] He was ranked 79th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.[15]

On June 6, 2016, Kalil signed a two-year extension with the Panthers.[16] He had been dealing with a shoulder injury for several weeks before leaving the Week 11 game against the New Orleans Saints. He was placed on injured reserve on November 29, 2016, ending his season.[17]

In 2017, Kalil started only six games after dealing with a neck injury for most of the season.

On December 31, 2018, Kalil announced his retirement from the NFL after 12 seasons.[18][19]

On August 1, 2019, Kalil came out of his brief retirement to sign a one-year contract with the New York Jets.[20] He was placed on injured reserve on November 16, 2019.[21]

Kalil has interests in the film industry, having made claymation films as a child.

He directed fellow USC-alumnus Will Ferrell on a football training spoof for the NFL Network and his short film, The Take Off, which premiered at The 34th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 29, 2019.[22][23]

Kalil founded Mortal Media in 2016 with friend Blake Griffin.[24][25][26] Kalil and Griffin have sold eight movie and television projects, five of which are in active development, most notably Apple TV+'s Hello Tomorrow![27] and reboots of White Men Can't Jump[28] and Disney’s The Rocketeer.[29]

In June 2016, Deadline Hollywood announced he will serve as an executive producer along with Dwayne Johnson producing Sony Pictures film "Son of Shaolin." Kalil financed production of the underlying graphic novel.[30][31]

Ryan Kalil, Shawn Kittelsen and Chris B. Murray created Savage Game, a Comixology Originals 60-page sci-fi graphic novel that is a high-tech version of The Island of Dr. Moreau.[32]

Kalil also co-wrote The Rookie Handbook with former Carolina offensive line teammates Jordan Gross and Geoff Hangartner. The Rookie Handbook is a humorous and insightful look at the life of an NFL rookie. It's designed to give a behind the scenes glimpse at life in the big leagues for the legions of NFL fans.[33][34]

In March 2022, Kalil, along with Vince Vaughn and Greg Olsen, launched a podcast network and production company named Audiorama.[35] The first podcast available from the network, called Youth, Inc., focuses on youth sports.[36]