Reginald Aaron "Reggie" Hodges (born January 26, 1982) 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 ...

punter. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

in the sixth round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 23–24, 2005. The league also he ...

. He played college football at Ball State. Hodges has been a member of 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 (A ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, New York Jets and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

Early years

Hodges earned First-team All-state honors in Illinois as a senior at Centennial High School, averaging 39.4 yards per punt.

College career

Hodges took over punting duties as a freshman at Ball State, going on to set a school-career record with 254 attempts. His 10,210 yards ranked second in school history at the time of his graduation. He was named First-team All-MAC selection as a senior, leading conference with 73 punts (42.6 avg).

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

The

drafted Hodges in the sixth round (210th overall) of the

. He was signed to a three-year contract on July 27, 2005. Hodges won the Rams' punting job out of training camp, beating out veteran

Bryan Barker Bryan Christopher Barker (born June 28, 1964) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL). Barker last played for the St. Louis Rams in 2005. Barker has previously played with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philad ...

. Hodges went on to appear in five games for the Rams, averaging 38.0 yards and 31.0 net yards in 22 attempts. Hodges' poor performance caused the team to release him on October 10 and re-sign Barker for the remainder of the season.

Philadelphia Eagles

On November 2, 2005,

head coach

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...

said the team would sign Hodges to replace

Dirk Johnson Dirk Johnson (born June 1, 1975) is a former American football punter. He is most notable for his four season tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. After playing college football at Northern Colorado, Johnson signed with the Seattle Seahawks as a ...

, who was out with a hernia. Hodges appeared in three games for the Eagles, averaging 36.8 yards in 19 punts with one blocked. He was waived by the team November 22. He spent the rest of the 2005 season out of football. The Eagles re-signed Hodges to a two-year future contract on January 13, 2006. The deal included base salaries of $310,000 (2006) and $385,000 (2007). However, he did not play in the team's first preseason game and was waived on August 8.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 18, 2006, the Indianapolis Colts signed Hodges, however he failed to beat out longtime Colts punter Hunter Smith for the job and was released on September 3. He spent the 2006 season out of football. The Colts re-signed Hodges to a three-year contract on February 23, 2007. He again lost out to Smith for the Colts' punting job, failing to appear in the team's first two preseason games before being released on August 23. He spent the season out of football.

Seattle Seahawks

After failing to make an NFL team for each of the past two seasons, Hodges signed with the Seattle Seahawks on April 11, 2008. He was released by the team on August 30 during final cuts.

New England Patriots

On September 4, 2008, Hodges was signed to the practice squad of the New England Patriots. He was waived from it on September 7, 2008.

New York Jets

On September 17, 2008, Hodges was signed by the Jets to replace former punter Ben Graham, who was cut the day before. The Jets waived Hodges on April 27, 2009, and he was replaced by Eric Wilbur. He was re-signed on June 10, 2009.

Tennessee Titans

On September 23, 2009, Hodges was signed by the

to replace punter

Craig Hentrich Craig Hentrich (; born May 18, 1971) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He played college football for Notre Dame. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL ...

. He was waived on October 27.

Cleveland Browns

Hodges was signed by the

on November 15, 2009 after punter

Dave Zastudil David Michael Zastudil (born October 26, 1978) is a former American football Punter (football), punter. He played college football at Ohio Bobcats football, Ohio, and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. ...

was listed as inactive for the game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

. Zastudil was later placed on injured reserve on November 18, making Hodges the only punter on the roster. Zastudil was again placed on injured reserve on August 17, 2010 after the knee recovered poorly from surgery. During the Browns' October 24, 2010 game against 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 ...

, Hodges took a fake punt and ran it 68 yards to the Saints' 10-yard line. This run is currently the longest run by a punter in NFL history, and it was the longest run by a member of the Cleveland Browns during the 2010 season. On November 27, 2010 Hodges signed a 2-year deal, keeping him with the Browns through 2012. On August 2, 2011 while practicing at the

Training Facility in

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...

Hodges suffered a torn left Achilles tendon, falling to the ground as soon as he planted his non-kicking foot in the end zone during a special teams drill. He was immediately called out for the season and placed on injured reserve.

Personal

Hodges has the distinction of being one of the few

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

punters in NFL history. He is also the Vice President of Fuzion Sports.

References

External links

*
Indianapolis Colts bioNew England Patriots bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Reggie 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Illinois African-American players of American football American football punters Ball State Cardinals football players St. Louis Rams players Philadelphia Eagles players Indianapolis Colts players Seattle Seahawks players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Tennessee Titans players Cleveland Browns players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Ed Block Courage Award recipients