Donald Lee Cockroft (born February 6, 1945) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

punter and

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

who played 13 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He has the third most career points for a Brown behind fellow kickers

Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is a former American football placekicker. He played for the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2012 and holds their franchise record for most field goals made, passing Hall of Famer Lou Groza in 2010. He pl ...

(second) and

Lou Groza Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and offensive tackle while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America F ...

. 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 and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

kicker/punter Dave 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 The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...

divisional play-off game versus the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Cockroft missed field goals from 47 and 30-yards in the second quarter. The Browns scored a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

on a 42-yard interception by

Ron Bolton Ronald Clifton Bolton (born April 16, 1950, in Petersburg, Virginia) is a former National Football League defensive back and current college football coach. He is an alumnus of Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a publi ...

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 nicknamed,

Red Right 88 Red Right 88 was a passing play called by the Cleveland Browns during the January 4, 1981 American Football Conference divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders; in the years since, the term has been used to refer to the game itself an ...

. Later NFL players to have this dual distinction were Steve Little of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in 1979,

Russell Erxleben Russell Erxleben (born January 13, 1957) is a former American football player and currency investor. He shares the record for the longest successful field goal in NCAA history at 67 yards (with tee), which he set in 1977 while playing for the Uni ...

of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

briefly in 1979 and 1980, and

Frank Corral Juan Francisco Corrales Rodríguez (born June 16, 1955), better known as Frank Corral, is a Mexican-American former NFL placekicker who played from 1978 to 1981. He attended Norte Vista High School in Riverside, California and played college foo ...

for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in 1980 and 1981. Doncockroftsignature

References

External links

Interview with Don Cockroft
conducted by Dan Coughlin at the

Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the ...

Sports Research Center on August 8, 2013. 1945 births Living people American football placekickers American football punters Adams State Grizzlies football players Cleveland Browns players Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Players of American football from Wyoming Players of American football from Colorado {{Amfoot-kicker-stub