Gregory Jerome Coleman (born September 9, 1954) is an American former football punter who played a 12-year career in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Florida A&M Rattlers.[1] Coleman is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | September 9, 1954 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | William M. Raines (Jacksonville, Florida) | ||||||||
| College: | Florida A&M | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1976 / Round: 14 / Pick: 398 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Coleman was the Vikings sideline reporter for KFAN, until the end of the 2021 season. He is the cousin of former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder Vince Coleman. Early in his career, he earned the nickname "Coffin Corner" because of his ability to aim his kicks near the corner of the playing field where the end zone and out-of-bounds lines meet. Due to his uncharacteristic speed (for a punter) defenses often lined up to guard against a fake punt because he was a threat to run for a first down.
He is known as being one of the few African American punters who played in the NFL, with Dave Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals being the first.[2] Coleman was enshrined in the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He was selected by the fans to be a member of the Viking 40th Anniversary team. He is a member of the Florida A&M Football Hall of Fame and is also a member of the State of Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame.
NFL career statistics edit
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season edit
| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1977 | CLE | 14 | 61 | 2,389 | 1,791 | 58 | 39.2 | 29.4 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| 1978 | MIN | 9 | 51 | 1,991 | 1,610 | 61 | 39.0 | 31.0 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
| 1979 | MIN | 16 | 90 | 3,551 | 3,017 | 70 | 39.5 | 33.2 | 1 | 22 | 9 |
| 1980 | MIN | 16 | 81 | 3,139 | 2,700 | 65 | 38.8 | 33.3 | 0 | 20 | 9 |
| 1981 | MIN | 15 | 88 | 3,646 | 3,027 | 73 | 41.4 | 34.4 | 0 | 17 | 11 |
| 1982 | MIN | 9 | 58 | 2,384 | 2,088 | 67 | 41.1 | 36.0 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 1983 | MIN | 16 | 91 | 3,780 | 3,323 | 65 | 41.5 | 36.5 | 0 | 28 | 8 |
| 1984 | MIN | 16 | 82 | 3,473 | 2,998 | 62 | 42.4 | 36.6 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| 1985 | MIN | 16 | 67 | 2,867 | 2,459 | 62 | 42.8 | 36.7 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| 1986 | MIN | 16 | 67 | 2,774 | 2,341 | 69 | 41.4 | 34.9 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| 1987 | MIN | 9 | 45 | 1,786 | 1,403 | 54 | 39.7 | 30.5 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 1988 | WAS | 10 | 39 | 1,505 | 1,140 | 53 | 38.6 | 29.2 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| Career | 162 | 820 | 33,285 | 27,897 | 73 | 40.6 | 33.9 | 3 | 184 | 64 | |
Playoffs edit
| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1978 | MIN | 1 | 6 | 248 | 166 | 49 | 41.3 | 27.7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980 | MIN | 1 | 5 | 200 | 179 | 52 | 40.0 | 35.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1982 | MIN | 2 | 8 | 317 | 288 | 61 | 39.6 | 32.0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Career | 4 | 19 | 765 | 633 | 61 | 40.3 | 31.7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
References edit
- ^ Greg Coleman. nfl.com
- ^ "Marquette King is the N.F.L.'s Only Black Punter. How Come?". The New Yorker. 5 February 2016.
External links edit
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