He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL draft.
A native of Fort Myers, Florida, he attended Cypress Lake High School.
He was viewed as the seventh best outside linebacker in the class of 2012 by Scout.com, while MaxPreps listed him as the fifteenth best athlete in the nation and considered him a four-star recruit.
Kearse stated: "I chose Clemson because the coaches are genuine people that care about their athletes, and is just a great place to be with a group of guys who all want the best for you."
Sources: Kearse accepted a football scholarship from Clemson University, where he focused on playing strong safety under head coach Dabo Swinney from 2013 to 2015.
Two weeks before his freshman season began, Kearse was a candidate to play nickelback in Clemson's five-defensive back formations, but a shoulder injury caused him to miss the end of fall camp and the opener against the University of Georgia, so fellow freshman strong safety Korrin Wiggins moved to nickel and Kearse settled in as Travis Blanks’ backup.
In the next two weeks, at Maryland and Virginia, a knee injury to Blanks gave Kearse more playing time and he recorded 2 interceptions.
As a true freshman, he played in 12 games with three starts, compiling 55 tackles (0.5 for loss), a career-high four interceptions (led the team) and one forced fumble.
Against Georgia Tech, he shared player of the game honors after setting a career-high 3 tackles for loss.
He tallied 3 tackles in the National Championship Game loss against the University of Alabama After the 2016 national championship game, Kearse announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft, with many mock drafts projecting him as a late 1st round selection.
Kearse was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round (244th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft,[10] dropping after posting a 4.62 time in the 40-yard dash and being criticized for taking bad tackling angles.
I'm definitely going to make the other 31 pay.”[11] As a rookie, he was one of the three tallest safeties in the league at 6-foot-4 and joined his former college teammate, cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who was taken by the Vikings in the second round.
[12] Kearse saw his first significant action of the 2016 season in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles, playing 52 of 58 snaps on defense and recording two tackles after starter Andrew Sendejo went down with an ankle injury after intercepting a pass.
He had a career game in Week 7 against the New York Jets, recording five tackles (one for loss), a half sack, and one quarterback hit.
He made his first career interception in Week 10 against the Dallas Cowboys, when he caught a last-second Hail Mary pass attempt to close out a 28–24 win.
Kearse was inactive for the Week 16 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after reportedly leaving the hotel room without permission and being late to a bed check on a road trip, which violated the team rules.
He sprained his left MCL in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was forced to play on a bad knee in most of the games.
He suffered a right labrum tear on the Thanksgiving game against the New York Giants, that forced him to play with a harness and have offseason surgery.
Kearse has family ties to the NFL, as Jevon Kearse, former Florida Gators All-American and longtime Tennessee Titans defensive end is his uncle, and his cousin, Phillip Buchanon, played college football at Miami and was taken in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
[23] At the age of 14, Kearse was out of football and in the summer of 2008 got arrested on a felony charge of robbery with another minor in Fort Myers, Florida, according to WBBH-TV.