Keith Abney II is used to waiting his turn. When he arrived in Tempe as a true freshman at Arizona State in 2023, he rode the bench and got little playing time. One year later, he was in the starting lineup, where he remained for 26 games over the next two seasons.
Abney, now 21, was back in the Valley for the first time since departing Tempe, now as a member of the Detroit Lions, who defeated the Arizona Cardinals 45-21 in NFL action on Oct. 11 at State Farm Stadium.
Abney was drafted in the fifth round (157th pick overall) by the Lions in April, following his junior season with the Sun Devils. He played sparingly on defense over the first four games, although he has seen some time on special teams. It appears his turn in Detroit might be coming
sooner than it did in Tempe.
Abney earned his first career start against the Cardinals and recorded seven tackles, six of them solo. He also snagged his first career interception off a long throw by Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett on the last play of the first half.
Good things are indeed worth waiting for.
"It's just waiting your turn," Abney said after the game. "Approach every day like you're going to start because you never know when your moment is going to be. That's really what my approach was every day. Treat every day like, `I'm not starting, not getting the minutes I want,' but keep doing my job, keep coming to work every day with the same mindset, same attitude."
He came into the game having recorded just two tackles, both of those coming in a game against the New Orleans Saints.
He stood at his locker, swarmed by the media. His first words were for the Lions radio network, which had named him player of the game. He juggled two footballs, one a game ball, and the other his interception ball.
"I'm leaving Arizona with souvenirs," he said.
The moment wasn't lost on Abney.
"A dream come true," Abney said, of his first NFL start. "First career interception. First career start. That was a great milestone, but I have a lot more to do. I'm going to enjoy this for the next 24 hours, celebrate it, but after tomorrow, I got to get ready for the bye week. Get my body right and get ready for the next game."
The back end of the Detroit defense has struggled, and coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the week that Abney would likely take on a bigger role. While Abney's days in Tempe were spent as a cornerback, his first professional start came at safety alongside veteran Chuck Clark.
He only started working at safety in the last 10 days. Not only did he not play that position at ASU, but he said he hadn't played there since middle school. He said it wasn't that difficult because he kept a lot of notes on all the positions in the back end of the defense and leaned on the veterans around him, most notably D.J. Reed.
That shouldn't be surprising given what his coaches said about him leading up to the season. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard had quite the compliment for Abney, praising his work ethic and football IQ.
"He was one of the smartest rookies I had ever been around," Sheppard said in an interview earlier this season. "During the offseason, we started to see a player that could grasp the system really fast and play multiple spots, but we didn't want to put too much on him. So, we waited to training camp, and we saw this Swiss Army knife."
Abney said he is enjoying life as a professional, but confesses he hasn't really splurged on anything special since signing his first contract. He left ASU after his junior season, so he is working toward earning his degree.
Abney said it was good to be back in the Valley, albeit for just a short time. He was planning to be at Mountain America Stadium for the Sun Devils game against Hawaii, but the Lions' flight was delayed, so he didn't make it.
Abney says he will always play with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. Many draft projections had him as a second-day selection, but he lasted until the fifth round despite a college career that saw him earn All-Big 12 honors twice. A lot of the speculation centered around his size. At just 5-foot-9 and 187 pounds, he is a bit small for a corner.
"157, that's been on my mind since I got drafted," he said. "Just remember that feeling on draft day. The pick is in; it's not my name. I wouldn't say disappointed, maybe shocked. Then at the end of the day, God doesn't make mistakes. This is the place to be. I'm a proud Lion. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lions rookie Keith Abney has career day in return to to Arizona
