Durwood Clinton Roquemore (born January 19, 1960) 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 wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who played professionally 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 ...

(NFL),

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL), and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL).

Early life

Roquemore was born January 19, 1960 in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. In 1978, he graduated from

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

, where he played baseball, basketball, and football, and was named to All District and All Metro teams.38 Durwood Roquemore
houston-gamblers.com

College football

Roquemore played college football at

Texas A&I Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

. He was a three-year starter for the Javelinas. The team won the NAIA national championship in 1979, his first year as a starter. Starting opposite another lock-down cornerback,

Darrell Green Darrell Ray Green (born February 15, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins from 1983 to 2002. He is widely considered to be one of the gr ...

, Roquemore intercepted 10 passes his junior year, which was a school record and second in the nation. During his career he intercepted 22 passes, which tied the school all-time record. Roquemore was team captain his senior year and was named a first-team college All-American in both his junior and senior years.

Professional football

Roquemore was drafted by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

1982 NFL Draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York Sh ...

. He played two seasons for the Chiefs (1982 and 1983) as a defensive back and kickoff returner, competing in 24 games and starting 3 times. He had five interceptions that he returned for 134 yards and 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 Amer ...

. In 1985, Roquemore played in 18 games for the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

, intercepting 7 passes, which he returned for 107 yards. After spending 1986 out of football, Roquemore spent the 1987 season playing for the

Chicago Bruisers The Chicago Bruisers were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Rosemont Horizon. History Founding (1987) ...

. He finished the 1987 AFL season recording 35

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and two interceptions. In the fall of 1987, Roquemore played for the Buffalo Bills during the NFL player's strike. He played in 5 games, starting 2. Roquemore returned to the Arena Football League's Bruisers in 1988. His 11 interceptions led the league by a wide margin and also set the AFL's single-season record for interceptions. In week one of that season, he intercepted three passes, which set the AFL single game league record. In 1990, Roquemore played for the AFL's Albany Firebirds, recording 30 tackles and seven interceptions. For 6 seasons, starting in 1991, Roquemore played for the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

. During those 6 years, he recorded 290 tackles and 30 interceptions. He recorded 24 interceptions between 1992 and 1994, including a league-leading 8 interceptions in 1994. At the time of his retirement, he had been selected to the All-Arena Football League first-team five times, made four Arena Bowl appearances and was the career league leader in interceptions, tackles, assists and passes defended.

Coaching and business career

Roquemore was the defensive coordinator for the AFL's Albany Firebirds in 1997 and the defensive coordinator for the Houston Thunderbirds in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 and 2000, he was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and director of football operations for the

Richmond Speed The Richmond Speed were one of the original 15 teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference in 2000, before going over to the Northeast Division in 2001, then to the Atlantic Division from 2002–2003. ...

. In 1996, Roquemore was selected to the Arena Football League's Tenth Anniversary Team. In 1999, he was elected to the Arena Football League Hall of Fame. In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas A&I's Hall of Fame. He was then named the athletic director, head coach and dean of students at Cyber Charter High School in Sanford, Florida. After working in the Florida charter school, Roquemore became defensive coordinator at

Fort Valley State University } Fort Valley State University (FVSU, formerly Fort Valley State College and Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School) is a public land-grant historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and ...

. He then moved to Atlanta, where, as of 2020, he was in business.1979 National Championship Football TeamTo Celebrate Its 40th Anniversary Nov. 8-9
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roquemore, Durwood 1960 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties American football wide receivers Af2 coaches Albany Firebirds players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bruisers players Fort Valley State Wildcats football coaches Houston Gamblers players Indiana Firebirds coaches Kansas City Chiefs players Orlando Predators players Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas football players High school football coaches in Florida Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Dallas African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople