Grady Kinsey of Indian Valley earns top state football award

The 2025 Mr. Football award given to Grady Kinsey of Indian Valley High School was just icing on the cake for area football fans who saw their Braves earn a State Championship in Division 4 in 2024 and advance to the final four in 2025.

Kinsey said he is pleased to have the award for his school and community.

"Personally, I think it's awesome that we can bring the Mr. Football award to Gnadenhutten,” Kinsey said. “It’s something that a lot of people, including myself [sic], thought was a little far-fetched considering small school players usually do not win it, but this year must have been a special case, and we're blessed to be able to bring it back.”

Team play is most important.

“Our offensive line, not the biggest, but they're real tough guys,” Kinsey said. “All the skill guys, they block very well. That type of inner workings of playing for each other really helps and shows in our success.”

Kinsey was also named the Gatorade Ohio Football Player of the Year.

Kinsey’s career stats certainly had much to do with it. Kinsey, a 5-foot-8, 205 pound running back and linebacker, is first in Ohio High School Athletic Association history with 133 touchdowns, a record he set this season. He also holds a few other top spots in the record books including second (840) in total points, third (8,607) in career rushing yards and third (50) in single-season touchdowns.

How did he get so good? Kinsey admits sports and now football is his life. Some fans remember Kinsey starting out in sports in T-ball. He began playing football for Indian Valley in the third grade. Kinsey also played flag football for a short time.

“I was not a good fit for flag football, because I just wanted to tackle people. I started playing tackle football when I was 9 years old,” Kinsey said. “I’ve always played sports. I think that playing a multitude of sports growing up helps with diverse movements. I think that really helps you whenever you get older. Baseball has a lot of coordination with it, a lot of rotating. And then running track obviously helps me, just because of the speed aspect of things."

Kinsey enjoyed participating in wrestling but gave it up to concentrate on football.

“I think it just builds mental toughness along with balance, core strength and strength in general,” Kinsey said. "I had to weigh the weigh my options and focus on football, and that helped me a lot, because I had all the time in the winter to train for football."

He spent much time working out in the weight room and at two area organizations that specialized in athletic training.

Kinsey participates in track and field for Indian Valley and it’s how he became friends with Brayden DeVito, quarterback at Shelby High School in Shelby, who came in second in this year’s Mr. Football voting.

“He's a good buddy of mine. It was funny, because we're at the state track meet together, and we're talking about how we were recruited by a lot of the same schools,” Kinsey said.

When Kinsey went on his visit to the Air Force campus, DeVito was there too. In November, Kinsey and DeVito were both at the Air Force versus Army football game. They’ve already spent a lot of time together, including Kinsey attending some of DeVito’s high school games, and they are excited to play for the same team next fall.

Kinsey was being recruited by about 15 to 20 colleges before he chose the Air Force Academy. He considered Army before he visited Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"I went out to the Air Force Academy, and I liked it even more. It also had great sports, great academics, and the opportunity to serve but a special relationship with all the coaches and all the incoming recruits. It's a really nice area, so I ended up committing on that trip,” Kinsey said.

Kinsey will travel to the Air Force Academy in mid-June 2026 and complete basic training just in time for the fall football season. He plans to study management.

Kinsey is in the National Honor Society and Military Club at Indian Valley. He enjoys fishing in the summer and spending time with family and friends.

Kinsey’s parents, Eric and Bobi, and his older brother, Max, are proud of his Mr. Football win and other accomplishments. It takes more to impress his younger brothers, Jack, 14, and Cy, 11.

“My little brothers really don't get too excited about stuff like that,” Kinsey said. “They're just young, and they're around me all the time, so it's kind of a normal thing for people to act like I'm cooler than I am. They just laugh at it.”

The younger brothers do love football and going to games.

When he was a young child, Kinsey wanted to be a pro football player and it’s something he’d still like to accomplish.

Overall, he’d like to encourage others.

"If I could leave an impact at all, it would just be to set your goals as high as you can. Do not be afraid to set out to do something nobody's done before, because I feel a lot of people put limitations on themselves that aren't necessarily true,” Kinsey said. “You can go higher than anybody thinks you can."