career On December 30, 2013, it was announced that Kirksey had accepted his invitation to appear in the 2014 Senior Bowl. Throughout the week, leading up to the game, Kirksey impressed scouts and team representatives during practice by displaying his athleticism, explosiveness, and ability to finish plays. On January 25, 2014, he participated at the Senior Bowl and recorded six combined tackles with 1.5 tackles for a loss during the North's 20–10 loss to the South. He had an impressive performance playing for former Atlanta Falcons' head coach Mike Smith's North team. He was one of 35 collegiate linebackers to receive an invitation to attend the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kirksey attended the NFL combine, but opted to forgo the majority of combine drills and only perform the vertical jump, broad jump, and bench press. His 16 reps tied for 23rd out of the 25 linebackers who participated and he finished 21st out of 30 linebackers in the vertical. Kirksey's best performance at the combine was in the broad jump where he tied for fifth out of 30 players in his position. On March 24, 2014, Kirksey participated at Iowa's pro day, along with C. J. Fiedorowicz, Anthony Hitchens, James Morris, and nine other prospects. Representatives and scouts from 28 NFL teams attended as he performed all of the combine and positional drills and was able to increase his vertical by four inches (36"). Kirksey's unofficial time in the 40-yard dash would've garnered him third among his position group at the combine. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kirksey was projected to be a fourth or fifth round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 13th best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Cleveland Browns 2014 The Cleveland Browns selected Kirksey in the third round (71st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was the ninth linebacker selected in 2014. On June 5, 2014, the Cleveland Browns signed Kirksey to a four-year, $3.04 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $662,500. Throughout training camp, Kirksey competed against Craig Robertson for the job as the starting right inside linebacker. Head coach Mike Pettine named him the backup right inside linebacker to Craig Robertson to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut in the Cleveland Browns' season-opener at the Pittsburgh Steelers and recorded one solo