Geno Atkins Biography 2024 - Football Defensive Tackle

Geno Reynard Atkins Jr is an American professional football player for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. He is the son of former American footballer Gene Atkins. Geno has been playing in the top football league for more than a decade.

Throughout his career, he has won the Independence Bowl, Capital One Bowl, Sugar Bowl & many more. Geno has been mentioned in the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team, All-Pro First team, and several Pro Bowls. He is regarded as one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. Let us know more about Geno Atkin's biography and career.

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Early Life, Family, And Education

Geno Atkins was born to former professional footballer Gene Atkins and Gene's wife Sandra Atkins. He entered the world on March 28, 1988, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Geno's father, Gene Atkins, is a former footballer for the Miami Dolphins and New Orlean Saints. Geno was a talented sportsman from a young age. He studied at the St. Thomas Aquinas High School, where he was awarded the Florida Class 5-A Defensive Player of the year. As a junior, the athlete had 70 tackles, four fumble recoveries, and one interception. He had 117 tackles and 7.5 sacks in his senior year. The Miami Herald and the Sun-Sentinel honorably mentioned the skilled player as the Class 5A in the state of Florida and Florida's Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year. 

Geno Atkins' father, Gene Atkins, was a former professional footballer. Image Source: Geon's Instagram.

Geno Atkins attended the University of Georgia and played for the Georgia Bulldogs football team under coach Mark Richt to start his college career. He worked hard to develop himself and brought in nine tackles and 0.5 sacks in just eleven games. His coach increased his playtime in 2007 after being selected as a backup player behind Jeff Owens and Kade Weston. Jeff was one of the first to praise Geno for his defense.

Despite being a backup, the talented footballer managed to collect six tackles with one sack, the overall fourth in the Southeastern Conference. He appeared in his first start game on October 6, 2010, against Weston. He became the first player to lead his team in tackles since 1995 by Jason Ferguson and the second to defensive lineman after David Pollack in 2003. On November 17 of 2003, Atkins was awarded the week's SEC defensive player and was named First-team All-SEC. He was the only player alongside Knowshon Moreno from Georgia to be named in the team. In 2009, Geno was ranked No.5 on Rivals.com for his defensive tackle power and was also named in the 2009 Outland Trophy watch list. Atkins had racked up 15 sacks as a sophomore and 10.5 in his senior year throughout his college career.

Career

The talented rookie was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, being the twelfth defensive tackle to get selected that year. Geno signed a multi-year deal worth $3.20 million in the following months with a signing bonus of $472,450. He was selected as the fourth defensive tackle behind Pat Sims, Domata Peko, and Tank Johnson. The athlete started his professional debut in a match against New England Patriots. The following week, Geno made his first career sack alongside teammate Michael Johnson against Baltimore Ravens. The footballer earned his first career start against Pittsburgh Steelerswhich resulted in a loss. He managed to finish his rookie season with 16 combined tackles, three sacks in 16 games. He started in only one of them. 

In 2011 he was named the starting defensive tackles alongside Domata Peko after Tank Johnson's release in August. He finished his second season with 47 combined tackles, 7.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. He had the most sacks by a defensive tackle tieing Tommy Kelly from Oakland Raiders. He was selected as a substitute for the 2012 Pro Bowl but was officially named to the team after Vince Wilfork from New England Patriots could not participate. Geno continued to play for the Bengals in the NFL and performed well in every subsequent game. In 2012 he was voted to the 2013 Pro Bowl. That season, he had made 12.5 sacks, which ranked him as the fifteenth most sacks in an NFL season history. 

Geno went on to sign his second contract with the Bengals for five years worth $53.32 million. The player received $15 million as a signing bonus. On October 31, 2013, Geno was substituted in the second quarter after sustaining a leg injury. Following his injury, Atkins was placed on the injured reserve for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. Upon his return, the sportsman was the starting defensive tackle to begin the regular season. He ended the 2015 season with 42 combined tackles and 16 sacks in 16 games. Here are the overall stats of Geno Atkins before 2020 according to ESPN.

Geno was named in the 2016 Pro Bowl for the second time. His impressive defending ranked his as the 29th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016. In 2017, Atkins had a total of 46 combined tackles and nine sacks. He signed his third contract worth $65.3 million with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018 for four years.

Alongside his signing, we are sure that the player has earned a significant amount of signing bonus which has helped increase his income. He had a successful season after recording sacks against players like Joe Flacco of Baltimore Ravens and Derek Carr of Oakland Raiders. He went on to play games under the Bengals jersey but was unable to play for the rest of the season after a shoulder surgery during his training camp in 2020. The player has since been back on the field and is looking forward to playing for his team. With such a successful profession in the sport, we can assume that Geno has made a lot of money throughout his NFL career.

Injuries 

The player has faced numerous injuries throughout his NFL career. The injuries have cost the footballer almost 32 weeks of his career. He was injured in 2019 and placed in the Bengals Injured reserve for 11 weeks before the player could start again. As mentioned before, Geno has also affected his shoulder during his clashes on the field. The injury pushed the athlete out for the rest of the 2020 season. 

Geno Atkins's Net Worth 

According to Wealthy Gorilla, Geno Atkins's net worth is estimated to be $22 million. The footballer has been regarded as one of the best defensive players in the NFL. Moreover, he is also endorsed by various companies like Power Bar, Sports Trust, Kbleyewear, Brio Product Group, Ubisoft, Element Sports, MVMT, etc. Geno Atkins endorsement deals with such significant companies helps him to increase his overall wealth. He also receives an Annual Workout Bonus of $300k alongside his per-game bonus of $12,500, which adds to his income. With few years left on his contract, we might see the NFL player sign a new contract soon for much higher pay.

Contract signings

He signed a four-year deal with the Bengals for a contract worth $65.3 million, following the end of his previous agreement worth $53.32 million with a signing bonus of $15 million. As revealed by Spotrac, the player also received a signing bonus of $472k from his rookie contract, signed for a reported $3,205,450. The professional footballer has earned most of his wealth from his professional NFL career.

Relationship And Children

Apart from his professional career, The NFL player loves his dear family very much. Geno Atkins's wife is Kristen Merritt. The lovely pair exchanged their marital vows at St. Regis Atlanta in 2016. The duo shares a genuine love for each other as they have been in a relationship since they first met in high school. The lovely duo is deeply in love, and we hope to see the pair together for decades to come. Kristen is also the mother of his two bundles of love.

Geno Atkins loves to post pictures of his family on his social handles. Image Source: Geno's Instagram.

Geno Atkins has a son named Gene Atkins III, who was born in February 2019. Geno and Kristen also welcomed their daughter Isla Elise Atkins into the world in November 2020. The couples were delighted to announce their new family member's birth, who has filled their lives with even more happiness. As a dad, Geno loves his children and hopes to see them grow into even more successful people than himself.

Trivia

• Geno Atkins is 6 feet 1 inch tall.
• He has made 384 total tackles in his NFL career.
• He has 78.8k followers on his Instagram account.