Stephen Odom (born September 5, 1952 in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

) 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 ...

wide receiver and

kick returner 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 ...

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 ...

. He played college football for

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, where he twice finished second in the country in receiving touchdowns with 11 his sophomore and 8 his junior year, and led the country in kickoff returns in 1972. He was a first-team All-American (as a return specialist) and Academic All-American in 1973. At the time of graduation, he held records for touchdowns (26), receiving yards in a game (177 vs Arizona St in 1972), receiving touchdowns in a season (11 in 1972) and career (19), longest kickoff return (93 yards vs

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in 1973), most career punt return yards (548), longest punt return (95 yards vs

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

in 1973), most career kickoff returns (99) and yards (2,582), and most yards per catch in a season (22.1 in 1972; these last four records still stand). Odom was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the 5th round of the 1974 draft, where he played five seasons, and one with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1979). He went to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

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. 's NFL off-season, Steve Odom held at least 4 Packers franchise records, including: * Most Kick Returns (career): 179 * Most Kick Ret Yds (career): 4,124 * Most Total Return Yds (career): 4,693 * Longest punt return for a touchdown: 95 yards (CHI 1974, Week 9).

References

1952 births Living people Players of American football from Oakland, California American football wide receivers American football return specialists Utah Utes football players Green Bay Packers players National Conference Pro Bowl players New York Giants players {{widereceiver-1950s-stub

See also

References