[4] A three-year starter (1969–71), Kinney was the tailback (I-back) on the national championship teams of 1970 and 1971, and the Huskers' leading rusher in 1969 and 1971.

In the "Game of the Century" against the unbeaten Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on Thanksgiving Day 1971, Kinney rushed for 171 yards, 151 in the second half, on 31 carries (5.5 avg.)

[5][6][7][8] The Huskers went 13–0 in 1971 and were consensus national champions; they defeated the next three teams in the final AP poll: Oklahoma, Colorado (31–7 in Lincoln), and Alabama (38–6 in the Orange Bowl).

[9] Kinney was the second of three Nebraska Cornhuskers selected in the first round of the 1972 NFL draft; QB Jerry Tagge was taken 11th by his hometown team, the Green Bay Packers, and DT Larry Jacobson was selected by the New York Giants with the 24th overall pick, immediately after.

At the start of his fifth season in the NFL in 1976, he was released by the Chiefs after the first game and picked up by the Buffalo Bills in mid-September.