Never Ordinary Moments with Commanders Safety Kamren Curl

At bet365, we don’t do ordinary.

And neither does Washington Commanders safety Kamren Curl.

Drafted by Washington with the 216th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Curl has emerged as one of the top all-around safeties in the NFL over the past three seasons. 

He’s been so impactful that, ahead of the 2023/24 season, CBS Sports ranked him at No. 85 in their top 100 player rankings. 

Curl’s impact extends well beyond the gridiron, though.

In his hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he recently hosted his second annual youth football camp, the town’s mayor christened June 30 as “Kamren Curl Day” and gave him a glass key to the city. 

“I feel like I got an obligation to do that,” Curl said about giving back to his hometown community. “When I was young, we ain’t really have that growing up. I want to be that, since I’m in the position I am.”

The camp is free to attend so anybody who wants to show up, can.

So how did Curl go from a seventh-round pick to one of the league’s top defensive backs?

His rookie year – the 2020/21 NFL season - is one to remember.

Curl started his pro career getting limited snaps on defense and special teams, before cementing his starting spot in the Washington secondary by Week 8 of his rookie season.

Over the last nine weeks of his rookie season, Curl was on the field for 98% (594 of 607) of Washington’s defensive snaps and recorded three interceptions. He played all 73 defensive snaps in the Wild Card round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Curl is one of six players in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to record three interceptions and one defensive touchdown as a rookie drafted in the seventh round. 

“I knew when I came to the league as a seventh round pick, I had to step my game up a lot,” Curl said.

Now in his fourth season, Curl is a cornerstone of the Washington defense and one of the most reliable defensive players in the NFL. 

He is one of four Washington defenders – along with Kendall Fuller, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen – to log more than 2,000 defensive snaps since 2020. According to PFF, Curl was the second-highest graded safety in the NFL in 2022/23. 

And in the Commanders’ Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Curl was, as expected, all over the field. He played all 62 defensive snaps, recording 10 tackles, including one for a loss, and one pass defended.