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Desmond Kevin Howard is an American former football wide receiver and return specialist who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected fourth overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. Howard spent most of his career on special teams as a return specialist and holds the NFL single season record for punt return yardage. With the Green Bay Packers, Howard was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXI after returning a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown, the longest return in Super Bowl history at the time. To date, he is the only special teams player to receive the award. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Timothy John Dwight Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was a two-time All-American. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and he played professionally for the Falcons, San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Oakland Raiders of the NFL.
Anthony Carter is an American former professional football player who played as a wide receiver for 13 years in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL). He finished his college football career as the University of Michigan's all-time leading receiver. He is also known as "AC".
Brian Keith Mitchell is an American former professional football player who was a running back and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana where he was a quarterback. Mitchell is considered one of the greatest return specialists in NFL history.
Pervis R. Atkins Jr. was an American football player.
Lionel "Little Train" James was an American professional football player who was a running back for the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers. Undersized at 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) and 171 pounds (78 kg), he spent his entire five-year NFL career with the Chargers from 1984 to 1988. His best year as a pro came during the 1985 season, when he set then-NFL season records for receiving yards by a running back and all-purpose yardage. He also led the American Football Conference (AFC) in receptions that year.
Linus Parker "Bullet" Hall was an American football quarterback, tailback and punter who played for the Cleveland Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted in the first round with the third overall pick in the 1939 NFL Draft.
Stephen Odom is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes, twice finishing second in the country in receiving touchdowns with 11 his sophomore and 8 his junior year, and led the nation in kickoff returns in 1972. He was a first-team All-American and Academic All-American in 1973. At the time of graduation, he held records for touchdowns (26), receiving yards in a game, receiving touchdowns in a season and career (19), longest kickoff return, most career punt return yards (548), longest punt return, most career kickoff returns (99) and yards (2,582), and most yards per catch in a season. Odom was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 5th round of the 1974 draft, where he played five seasons, and one with the New York Giants (1979). He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1974 season. He had both a punt and a kick return of 95 yards for a touchdown during his time with the Packers.
Peter Lembo is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the associate head coach and special teams coordinator at the University of South Carolina. In 2022, Lembo oversaw the highest rated special teams unit in college football with the Gamecocks. Prior to that, he was the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Memphis, a position he assumed in January 2019. Prior to Memphis, he was the associate head coach and special teams coordinator at Rice University. Before joining the coaching staff at Rice University, he was the head coach at Lehigh University from 2001 to 2005, at Elon University from 2006 to 2010, and at Ball State University from 2011 to 2015. He was also the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Maryland for two seasons. Lembo enjoyed success in each of his three stops as a head coach and accumulated a 112–65 career record over a 15-year period. His 79–36 record in ten seasons at the FCS level makes him one of the winningest coaches in the history of that classification.
A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position such as wide receiver, defensive back, or running back. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a kicking specialist.
Ira Richard Matthews, III is a former American football kick returner and punt returner. He played three seasons for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Matthews stood 5'8" and weighed 175 lbs which made it difficult to catch him. He played collegiate football at the University of Wisconsin, where he led the nation in punt returns in 1978, averaging 16.9 yards per punt return, including three for touchdowns.
Arthur Luppino, also known as "the Cactus Comet", was an American football player. He grew up in La Jolla, California, and played college football for the Arizona Wildcats football team. He twice led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,359 rushing yards in 1954 and 1,313 rushing yards in 1955. In 1954, he also broke the NCAA modern-era single-season scoring record with 166 points.
John Alexander Knolla was a National Football League (NFL) player for the Chicago Cardinals. He played college football for Creighton University from 1938 to 1940. In 1940, he led all NCAA major college players with 1,420 yards of total offense, outpacing Tom Harmon by 52 yards. He was drafted in the third round of the 1941 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also played professional football in the NFL for the Cardinals in 1942 and 1945. He appeared in 18 NFL games and gained 138 kickoff return yards, 107 punt return yards, 79 rushing yards, and 63 receiving yards.
John Alexander "Junie" Hovious, Jr. was an American football player. He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels football team from 1939 to 1941 and professional football for the New York Giants in 1945.
Walter Edward Slater was an American football player. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers football. In 1941, he led all NCAA major college players with an average of 20.4 yards per punt return. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he later played professional football in the National Football League (NFL), appearing in 11 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 1947 NFL season. During his time with the Steelers, he totaled 167 rushing yards and 215 passing yards. He also led the NFL with 435 punt return yards in 1947. In 1948, Slater retired from the NFL and was hired as the backfield coach for the NC State Wolfpack football team. He was the football coach at St. Augustine High School in St. Augustine, Florida from 1950 to 1961.
Harold Griffin is a former American football player. He played college football as a back for the Florida Gators football team. He led the NCAA major college players in 1946 with an average of 20.1 yards per punt return and set an unofficial national collegiate record with an average of 26.7 yards per return in 1947.
Paul Copoulos was a Greek-American dentist and university professor. He played at the halfback position for the Marquette University football team from 1943 to 1945. He led the NCAA major colleges in kickoff return yardage in both 1943 and 1944 and set an intercollegiate single-game record that year with consecutive kickoff returns for touchdowns and a total of four returns for 229 yards.
Overton Curtis was an American football player. Curtis was born in Vidalia, Louisiana in 1936, grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and began his college football career at San Bernardino Valley College in 1955. He transferred to Utah State University and played at the halfback position for the Utah State Aggies football team from 1957 to 1958. As a junior in 1957, he totaled 616 rushing yards and led the NCAA major colleges in both kickoff return yardage and yards per kickoff return (30.2). He was also the #2 scorer in the Skyline Conference with 63 points on nine touchdowns, six extra points, and one field goal, and was selected as a first-team halfback on the 1957 All-Skyline Conference football team. As a senior in 1958, he missed four games due to an ankle injury but still finished ninth among major college players in kickoff return yards per carry. In February 1959, he signed a contract to play professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tramaine Thompson is an American football wide receiver and return specialist. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats football team from 2010 to 2013. As a junior in 2012, he returned 16 punts for 316 yards. He led all NCAA major college players that year with an average of 19.8 yards per punt return. During his four years at Kansas State, Thompson appeared in 43 games, totaling 109 receptions for 1,673 yards and 10 touchdowns.
References
- ↑ "2021 Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). NCAA. pp. 77–79. Retrieved January 19, 2022.