Kimo von Oelhoffen

Kimo von Oelhoffen (born January 30, 1971 in Kaunakakai, Hawaii) is an American football defensive end for the New York Jets of the NFL.

He played college football at Boise State University and was selected with the first pick of the sixth round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He is of German, Hawaiian, and Portuguese decent.

Kimo was a member of the Super Bowl XL winning Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006. He gained notoriety on the playoff run by striking Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer's left knee on the Bengals second play from scrimmage. ESPN reported the play as, "...came off a block and lunged at Palmer's legs, crashing into the side of his left knee." (Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/news/story?id=2285810)

Palmer sustained damage to his ACL, MCL, and PCL ligaments.

Von Oelhoffen later claimed to apologize for the intentional hit, and even though Palmer has confirmed that Von Oelhoffen has never contacted him, Palmer forgave him, stating that the intentional injury was, "just part of the game." Von Oelhoffen's contract was not renewed by the Steelers following the season and he was subsequently released as a free agent.

During the off-season, the NFL Rules Committee modified the rule regarding low hits on quarterbacks. The so-called "Kimo Clause" now requires that defenders take every opportunity to avoid hitting a quarterback at or below the knees when the quarterback is in a defenseless position looking to throw with both feet on the ground. (Source: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9345607)

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