Eric Metcalf

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Eric Metcalf bigraphy, stories - American football player

Eric Metcalf : biography

January 23, 1968 –

Eric Quinn Metcalf (born January 23, 1968) is a former American football running back and wide receiver in the National Football League who played for the Browns, Falcons, Chargers, Cardinals, Panthers, Redskins and Packers. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Browns and the Chargers. He was also the 1988 US Track and Field Champion in the long jump and a two-time NCAA Champion in the same event.

College career

Metcalf attended and played college football at the University of Texas where he was an All-Southwest Conference selection three times. He was the 1987 Southwest Conference player of the year and a 2nd team All-American. He is the only player in Texas history to lead the team in all-purpose yards all 4 years and holds every school receiving record for a running back.

He was also a track and field star who won two NCAA Championships for Outdoor long jump (1986, 1988). He was a four-time All-American who set both the school’s indoor and outdoor long jump record. He twice came in third in the NCAA Indoor long jump and won SWC titles in both the Indoor and Outdoor long jump. At the 1988 USA Track and field championship, he won with a career best 27-8 1/4 was, at the time, the 4th best in American history and 8th best ever. But he finished in 8th at the 1988 Olympic Trials and missed out on his only shot at the Olympics.

Personal

Metcalf currently coaches football at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Washington. In the 2005-2006 season he helped lead the team to the state semi-finals. He also started an elite high school track and field club called Seatown Express. Eric is the son of former NFL player Terry Metcalf.

High school career

Metcalf attended Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington County, Virginia. In high school Metcalf competed in both football and track and field. He excelled in the long jump and still has the seventh longest distance ever posted indoors by a US high schooler with a jump of .

Professional career

A multi-talented player, Metcalf excelled at offense and as a returner on special teams. In his second NFL season, he led the league in kickoff return yards (1,052) and return touchdowns (two). He also led the NFL in punt return touchdowns in four different seasons (1993–1995, 1997). Overall, Metcalf finished his career with 2,392 rushing yards, 541 receptions for 5,572 yards, 3,453 punt return yards, and 5,813 yards returning kickoffs. This gave him a total of 17,230 all-purpose yards, ranking him among the NFL’s top 10 in that category at the time of his retirement. He also scored 55 touchdowns (12 rushing, 31 receiving, ten punt returns, two kickoff returns). His 12 returns for touchdowns are the third most in NFL history behind Devin Hester and Brian Mitchell. Metcalf’s 10 punt return touchdowns were an NFL record, until October 2, 2011 when Devin Hester broke it against the Carolina Panthers. He is the only player ever to have 7,000+ yards on offense and 7,000+ yards on kickoff/punt returns.

Metcalf was traded along with two first round and one second round draft pick by the San Diego Chargers to the Arizona Cardinals for moving one spot in the 1998 NFL Draft to pick quarterback Ryan Leaf.