Alvin Mentian Kamara (born July 25, 1995) is an American professional football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers after transferring from Hutchinson Community College and was selected by the Saints in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. Kamara was named the NFL Rookie of the Year in 2017, was named a Pro Bowler in his first five NFL seasons, and is a two-time second-team All-Pro. In 2020, Kamara became the second player in NFL history to score six rushing touchdowns and 36 points in a single game. Four years later, he became the Saints' all-time rushing leader.
Kamara was born to a Liberian mother. He attended Norcross High School in Norcross, Georgia. Kamara played high school football for the Blue Devils football team. As a junior in 2011, he rushed for 1,300 yards with 17 touchdowns. As a senior in 2012, Kamara rushed for 2,264 yards with 26 touchdowns, and caught 22 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns in leading his high school to its first state championship. He scored two touchdowns, including a 61-yard reception, in the 6A state championship game, a 21–14 win.
Kamara was named Georgia’s Mr. Football and all-classification player of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and earned first-team All-State honors from the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He was also chosen to participate in the 2013 Under Armour All-America Game.
Coming out of high school, Kamara was considered to be one of the top running back prospects in the nation. He was rated the No. 1 all-purpose back in the 247Composite, the No. 5 player in Georgia, and the No. 42 player nationally in 2012. Rivals.com rated Kamara as the No. 6 player in Georgia.
Kamara received a scholarship offer from Syracuse University as a junior in high school. He received 105 letters from Alabama on the same day. His recruitment eventually came down to Georgia and Alabama. He committed to play college football at the University of Alabama under head coach Nick Saban.
Kamara's short time at University of Alabama was "a rough experience". He had knee surgery during the preseason, then redshirted as a true freshman when he was unable to break into a recruitment class that featured three other future NFL running backs in Derrick Henry, T. J. Yeldon, and Kenyan Drake. Due to "behavioral issues", Saban banned Kamara from practicing with the team and suspended him from their bowl game.
In 2014, Kamara transferred from Alabama to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas for his redshirt freshman season. In nine games, Kamara ran for 1,253 yards with 18 touchdowns and led the Blue Dragons with 1,477 yards of total offense and 21 touchdowns. Kamara was named NJCAA All-American. His successful season with Blue Dragons propelled Kamara to one of the top JUCO prospects in the nation. Kamara earned a five-star rating from the Rivals.com and Scout.com recruiting networks. He was offered by both Tennessee and the Georgia Bulldogs before ultimately committing to the Volunteers.
In 2015, Kamara transferred to the University of Tennessee to play under head coach Butch Jones. As a redshirt sophomore, Kamara played in all 13 games and shared the backfield with Jalen Hurd and John Kelly. He accounted for 144 yards and two touchdowns in his Tennessee debut against Bowling Green at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 5, 2015; his 144 rushing yards set a school record for most rushing yards in a debut game. Kamara became the second Volunteer in history with a rushing touchdown and punt return for touchdown in the same game with a two-yard rushing touchdown and a 50-yard punt return touchdown against Western Carolina. On November 14 against North Texas, he had 15 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the home victory.
Tennessee finished with a 9–4 record and qualified for the Outback Bowl against #12 Northwestern. In the 45–6 victory over the Wildcats, Kamara had 53 rushing yards and a touchdown. In the entire 2015 season, he accounted for 698 yards (53.7 yards/game) with seven rushing touchdowns. Kamara averaged 6.5 yards per carry, which was third in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). He was second on team in receptions with 34 for 291 yards and three receiving touchdowns. As a punt returner, Kamara had eight returns for 100 yards (12.5 average) with a touchdown.
In 2016, Kamara was a key contributor for the Volunteers in his redshirt junior season. The running back personnel was the same as the last season for Kamara. In the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, he had six touches for 34 yards and one touchdown in the 45–24 victory over Virginia Tech. Kamara started his first career game at running back for the Vols in a 28–19 victory over Ohio on September 17. He had 79 all-purpose yards in a 38–28 victory over #19 Florida, including six yards on two carries, 12 yards on one reception and career highs of 61 punt-return yards and six punt returns. Kamara had 138 all-purpose yards, including a receiving touchdown, in a 34–31 victory over #25 Georgia. He had a career-best game the following week in a 45–38 double overtime loss against #8 Texas A&M at Kyle Field, rushing for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and had eight receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown. In the loss, Kamara set a school record with 312 all-purpose yards, breaking a mark set by Chuck Webb in 1989. In the next game against #1 Alabama, Kamara was limited to eight carries for 21 yards but had the Vols' lone touchdown in the 49–10 defeat. He missed some playing time due to being injured. Kamara returned on November 12 in a 49–36 victory over Kentucky. Against the Wildcats, he had 10 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns. In the 63–37 victory over Missouri, Kamara rushed for 55 yards and two touchdowns. During the regular season finale against Vanderbilt, he had three total touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) and 141 scrimmage yards in the 45–34 loss. In the final game of his collegiate career, Kamara had seven carries for 31 yards and seven receptions for 46 yards in the victory over #24 Nebraska in the Music City Bowl. He finished third in the SEC in touchdowns for the 2016 season.
At the end of the 2016 season, Kamara decided to forgo his redshirt senior season and enter the 2017 NFL draft. In his two seasons as a Volunteer, Kamara started in only eight of 24 games due to sharing the backfield with Jalen Hurd, but he amassed almost 2,000 yards from scrimmage and averaged a touchdown per game.
Kamara achieved the highest Wonderlic test score of running backs participating in the NFL Combine that year. He participated at Tennessee's Pro Day, but chose to only run positional routes, the short shuttle, and three-cone drill with 19 other teammates in front of representatives and scouts from every team. Kamara attended five private workouts and visits held by the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him as a second round pick, ranked as either the fourth-best running back (by NFLDraftScout.com, ESPN, and NFL analyst Mike Mayock) in the draft, fifth-best (Bucky Brooks), or seventh-best (by Sports Illustrated).
The Saints selected Kamara in the third round with the 67th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the second of six Tennessee Volunteers to be selected that year. Kamara was the fifth running back selected. As of 2021, he also serves as the Saints' emergency quarterback.
Kamara split backfield duties with Mark Ingram II throughout the 2017 season, with fewer carries but more receptions than his teammate. During the season opener against the Vikings on Monday Night Football, Kamara debuted with seven rushes for 18 yards, four receptions for 20 yards, and one kickoff return for 26 yards. In Week 2 against the New England Patriots, his role in the passing game expanded with three receptions for 51 yards during the 36–20 loss; he also returned three kickoffs, but would return only one more until Week 16 of the season. Kamara scored his first professional touchdown in Week 3 against the Panthers.