Cornelius Connie Colzie, better known as Neal Colzie, (February 28, 1953 – August 20, 2001) was an

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 ...

for the Oakland Raiders (1975–1978),

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

(1979), 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) South division. The cl ...

(1980–1983). He also played for the

Orlando Renegades The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Washington, D.C., as ...

of 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 ...

in 1985.

Early years

Born on February 28, 1953, in

Fitzgerald, Georgia Fitzgerald is a city in and the county seat of Ben Hill County in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 9,053. It is the principal city of the Fitzgerald Micropolitan Statistical A ...

, Colzie was one of six children of Thelma and Jim Colzie. His father was a Negro league baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. After attending

Coral Gables Senior High School Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida. Coral Gables SHS opened its doors in 1950; its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence, with open courtyards adorned with water f ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, he played for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he recorded 15 interceptions and returned 60 punts for 855 yards and two touchdowns. At the time, his 15 interceptions ranked him fourth in school history, and his 855 punt return yards were a school record.

Career

During his nine-season career, Colzie recorded a total of 25 interceptions, which he returned for 412 yards and a touchdown. He also recovered five fumbles, returning them for 42 yards and a touchdown. His best season was in 1981, recording six interceptions for 110 yards and a touchdown, along with one fumble recovery. Colzie also returned seven kickoffs for 130 yards in his career. Colzie excelled as a punt returner on special teams. In his first NFL season, he recorded 655 punt return yards, the most ever by an NFL rookie. Overall, Colzie returned 170 punts for 1,759 yards during his career. One of his more notable performances was in the Raiders' 32-14 win over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for i ...

. Colzie recorded four punt returns for a Super Bowl record of 43 yards, including a 25-yard return that set up a Raiders touchdown, and a 12-yard return that set up a field goal. He was offered a role in the movie " Black Sunday " but turned it down, refusing to wear a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform for the role. Colzie died on August 20, 2001, in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

of a heart attack at the age of 48.

References

External links

Colzie's stats including his special teams return yards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colzie, Neal American football cornerbacks Ohio State Buckeyes football players Oakland Raiders players Miami Dolphins players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Ohio State University alumni 1953 births 2001 deaths Washington Federals/Orlando Renegades players People from Fitzgerald, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)