What a way for Kayvon Webster to cap off his NFL rookie season!
The Denver Broncos cornerback played in Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey at Met Life Stadium.
After a regular season in which he replaced injured Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey in the starting line-up for 14 games, and returned to play in the playoffs following hand surgery, Webster, a former Monsignor Edward Pace High standout, helped the Broncos and record-breaking quarterback Peyton Manning win the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.
Webster was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, 90th overall, from the University of South Florida.
The highlight of his rookie season came in week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys, as Webster recorded his first career forced fumble, when he forced Dez Bryant to cough up the ball, as the Broncos won a wild game, 51-48.
In Denver’s following game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Webster intercepted quarterback Chad Henne for his first career interception.
Webster replaced Bailey, who was injured early in the season, in the starting lineup, but he hurt his right thumb in the upset loss to the San Diego Chargers during week 13.
He had surgery with just two games left in the regular season and returned for the Broncos’ first playoff game against the Chargers.
All in all, Webster recorded 41 tackles (37 solo), one interception and one forced fumble.
“Kayvon has got a lot of swagger," Broncos safety Rahim Moore told The Rocky Mountain News. “He’s so confident; he’s not a rookie to me. I saw that when he first came into training camp, he’s an unbelievable player."
What the Broncos saw in Webster as he closed out his career at South Florida was a cover corner who also led his team in 82 tackles as a senior. And while scouts often lament how much game video they have to wade through to see any cornerbacks in press coverage in college football, where most coordinators prefer to back off in coverage, Webster liked to play it close.
“I think maybe it helped me, that people saw I could match up,’’ Webster told NFL.com “I want to be able to do whatever they ask me to do.’’
Webster said his more veteran teammates in the defensive backs’ meeting room are constantly dropping “pop quizzes’’ on him, asking him his assignments in specific situations, simply to see if he is indeed following along.
For his part, Bailey has seen plenty of rookies come and go through the years in his decorated career and he has consistently said it takes two things for a rookie cornerback to advance very far past the rookie part. That it takes the confidence in yourself to bounce back from the inevitable tough plays.
"You're matched against some of the best athletes in the world, they're going to score a touchdown sometimes no matter what you do,” Bailey said. “It’s all about remembering they brought you here for a reason, so you have talent. But talent is just the start. You have to keep fighting on every play, give up a touchdown, get back and play the next play like you didn’t.”
At Pace High School, Webster excelled in football and track. In track, he was part of the 2009 4x100-meter relay team that holds the current state high school record in that event.
Webster attended the University of South Florida, where he played for the Bulls football team from 2009 to 2012. He was a second-team All-Big East Conference selection in 2011. He graduated from South Florida with a bachelor's degree in health science in December 2012.