.jpg) Cockroft in 1978 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Punter /Placekicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1945-02-06)February 6, 1945 (age 80) Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Fountain-Fort Carson (Fountain, Colorado) | ||||||||
| College: | Adams State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1967: 3rd round, 55th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Donald Lee Cockroft (born February 6, 1945) is an American former professionalfootball player who was apunter andplacekicker for 13 seasons with theCleveland Browns of theNational Football League (NFL). He has the third most career points for a Brown behind fellow kickersPhil Dawson (second) andLou Groza.
Cockroft served as the Browns' primary punter and placekicker for the first nine seasons of his career. In 1977, he dropped punting from his duties and became solely a placekicker. He andTampa Bay Buccaneers kicker/punterDave Green were two of the last NFL players to lead their teams in both punting and kicking in the same season (1976).
He was involved in the January 4, 1981,American Football Conference divisional play-off game versus theOakland Raiders. Cockroft missed field goals from 47 and 30-yards in the second quarter. The Browns scored atouchdown on a 42-yard interception byRon Bolton with 6:02 left in the second quarter, but the extra point attempt by Cockroft was blocked. Cleveland would lose the game 14–12, a game which is nicknamedRed Right 88.
Later NFL players to have this dual role wereSteve Little of theSt. Louis Cardinals in 1979,Russell Erxleben of theNew Orleans Saints briefly in 1979 and 1980, andFrank Corral for theLos Angeles Rams in 1980 and 1981.
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