Editing Reggie Roby

{{Short description|American football player (1961–2005)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image       = Reggie Roby 1989.jpg
| caption     = Roby in 1989
| number      = 4, 1, 7
| position    = [[Punter (American football)|Punter]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1961|7|30}}
| birth_place = [[Waterloo, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2005|2|22|1961|7|30}}
| death_place = [[Nashville, Tennessee]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 3
| weight_lb   = 258
| high_school = [[Waterloo East High School|Waterloo East]] <br> (Waterloo, Iowa)
| college     = [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa]]
| draftyear   = 1983
| draftround  = 6
| draftpick   = 167
| teams       =
* [[Miami Dolphins]] ({{NFL Year|1983|1992}})
* [[Washington Redskins]] ({{NFL Year|1993|1994}})
* [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] ({{NFL Year|1995}})
* [[Tennessee Titans|Houston / Tennessee Oilers]] ({{NFL Year|1996|1997}})
* [[San Francisco 49ers]] ({{NFL Year|1998}})
| highlights  =
* 2× First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1984 All-Pro Team|1984]], [[1994 All-Pro Team|1994]])
* Second-team All-Pro ([[1991 All-Pro Team|1991]]) 
* 3× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1985 Pro Bowl|1984]], [[1990 Pro Bowl|1989]], [[1995 Pro Bowl|1994]])
* [[PFWA All-Rookie Team]] ([[PFWA All-Rookie Team#1983|1983]])
* [[NFL 1980s All-Decade Team]]
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1981 College Football All-America Team|1981]])
* Second-team All-American ([[1982 College Football All-America Team|1982]])
* 2× First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1981 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1981]], [[1982 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1982]])
* Second-team All-Big Ten ([[1979 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1979]]) 
| statlabel1  = [[Punt (gridiron football)|Punts]]
| statvalue1  = 992
| statlabel2  = Punting yards
| statvalue2  = 42,951
| statlabel3  = Punting average
| statvalue3  = 43.3
| pfr         = RobyRe20 
}}

'''Reginald Henry Roby''' (July 30, 1961 – February 22, 2005) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[punter (American football)|punter]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for 16 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s.  He played [[college football]] for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa Hawkeyes]] and was recognized as a consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]].  He played professionally for the [[Miami Dolphins]], [[Washington Redskins]], [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]], [[Tennessee Titans|Houston/Tennessee Oilers]], and [[San Francisco 49ers]] of the NFL.<ref name="ProFootballReference.com">{{Cite web |title=Reggie Roby Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RobyRe20.htm |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>  Roby died of a heart attack at his [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] home in 2005.

==Early life==
Roby was born in [[Waterloo, Iowa]].  In addition to playing [[high school football]], he was also a standout [[pitcher]] on the [[Waterloo East High School]] baseball team, and was drafted by [[Major League Baseball]]'s [[Cincinnati Reds]].  Instead, he chose to attend college.

==College career==
Roby attended the [[University of Iowa]], where he played for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Hawkeyes]] from 1979 to 1982.  Despite the fact that he had experience at [[quarterback]] and possessed a strong arm, Hawkeyes head coach [[Hayden Fry]] made the 6'4", 250-pounder a punter and kick-off specialist, also using him for long range field goals.  Before Roby arrived, the Hawkeyes had not had a winning season in 20 years.  With Roby, the 1981 team earned its first [[Rose Bowl (game)|Rose Bowl]] invitation in 23 years on the strength of a 6–2 conference record (8–4 overall) and co-[[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] championship with [[Ohio State University|Ohio State]].  Roby set an [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] season record with a 49.8-yard average.  In 1982, he led the nation with a 48.1-yard average.  His career average of 45.4 yards ranks among [[college football]]'s best.

Reggie was also given the kick off duties and routinely kicked the ball through the uprights at Iowa, a total of 26 times. He was 28-34 for PAT's and was 11–27 in FG attempts, mostly from long range.

==Professional career==
As a professional, his 38.7 net average led the league in 1986, and his 45.7 average yards led the NFL in 1991, and he set a Pro Bowl record with 10 punts in the 1985 game.  His 58.5-yard single-game average on September 28, 1986, remains a Dolphin team record. At [[Rich Stadium]], Roby punted the ball a team record 77 yards. He completed the only pass attempt of his career, a 48-yarder to [[John Booty (defensive back)|John Booty]] in 1995.  Roby was selected as a punter for the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team.  In the Dolphins 1992 divisional round 31–0 win over the [[San Diego Chargers]], he planted 4 of his 8 punts inside the Chargers 20-yard line, including 3 inside the 7.  Roby played in [[Super Bowl XIX]] with the Dolphins, though he had a below average day, averaging just 39.3 yards per kick and failing to put any of his 7 punts inside the 20.  "I was trying to kill the ball, and I kicked it bad", said Roby after the game. "I didn't hit one well. I was scared -- scared to make a mistake. It was the worst game of my life, counting high school, college, counting everything." Dolphins coach Don Shula said following the game "We're supposed to have the best punter in the football, but today, he didn't punt like he was the best."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/19/ |title=CNNSI.com - Super Bowl Archives |website=sportsillustrated.cnn.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030404194201/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/19/ |archive-date=2003-04-04}}</ref>  However, it is notable that despite Miami's #1 ranked offense during the 1984 season, which set numerous NFL records, he still made the [[Pro Bowl]] that year.

Roby played sixteen seasons in the NFL and had 992 punts for 42,951 yards.  His career yards per punt average was 43.3, with a net average of 34.0. He had 298 punts beyond the 20-yard line and 112 [[touchback]]s.  Roby helped popularize the now-standard two-step approach and often wore a watch to gauge his hangtime.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=1997214 Cause of death unknown - NFL - ESPN]</ref> He was one of a handful of [[African American]] kickers in National Football League history. He was one of the only kickers, to this day, to punt the ball without jumping.

In 1993, Roby's financial difficulties led to his filing for [[bankruptcy]]. The Miami Dolphins had cut him after the 1992 season largely because a corollary of this filing would have meant he could have become a free agent and left Miami at any point of the following season, but he continued to play professionally until 1998 and later became marketing and development director for Backfield in Motion, a non-profit group mixing athletics and academics to help inner city boys.

===Career statistics===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2"|Legend
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 
|Led the league
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}

;Regular season
{{NFL punting stats start}}
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1983 NFL season|1983]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1983 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 74 || 3,189 || 43.1 || 36.5 || '''26''' || 11
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1984 NFL season|1984]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1984 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 51 || 2,281 || 44.7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|38.1 || 15 || 10
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1985 NFL season|1985]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1985 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 59 || 2,576 || 43.7 || 34.7 || 19 || 8
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1986 NFL season|1986]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1986 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 15 || 56 || 2,476 || 44.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|37.4 || 13 || 9
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1987 NFL season|1987]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1987 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 10 || 32 || 1,371 || 42.8 || '''38.2''' || 8 || 3
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1988 NFL season|1988]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1988 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 15 || 64 || 2,754 || 43.0 || 35.2 || 18 || 9
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1989 NFL season|1989]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1989 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 58 || 2,458 || 42.4 || 35.3 || 18 || 6
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1990 NFL season|1990]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1990 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 72 || 3,022 || 42.0 || 35.6 || 20 || 3
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1991 NFL season|1991]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1991 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 16 || 54 || 2,466 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''45.7''' || 36.4 || 17 || 7
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1992 NFL season|1992]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1992 Miami Dolphins season|MIA]]
| 9 || 35 || 1,443 || 41.2 || 34.3 || 11 || 3
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1993 NFL season|1993]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1993 Washington Redskins season|WAS]]
| 15 || 78 || 3,447 || 44.2 || 37.2 || 25 || 10
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1994 NFL season|1994]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1994 Washington Redskins season|WAS]]
| 16 || '''82''' || '''3,639''' || 44.4 || 36.1 || 21 || '''12'''
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1995 NFL season|1995]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|TB]]
| 16 || 77 || 3,296 || 42.8 || 36.2 || 23 || 7
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1996 NFL season|1996]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1996 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]
| 16 || 67 || 2,973 || 44.4 || 38.0 || 25 || 7
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1997 NFL season|1997]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1997 Tennessee Oilers season|TEN]]
| 16 || 73 || 3,049 || 41.8 || 35.6 || 25 || 1
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1998 NFL season|1998]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[1998 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| 14 || 60 || 2,511 || 41.9 || 34.3 || 14 || 6
|-
|- class="sortbottom" style="background:#eee;"
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RobyRe20.htm Career]
! 238 || 992 || 42,951 || 43.3 || 36.2 || 298 || 112
|}

==Death==
On February 22, 2005, Roby's son, Julian, found him without a [[pulse]] in their Nashville home. The cause of death, although not officially reported, was believed to be a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]]. He left behind four children and his wife Melissa.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Former Punter Roby Dies at 43|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45283-2005Feb22.html?nav=rss_sports/leaguesandsports/nfl/20002001/miamidolphins|access-date = August 19, 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|date = February 23, 2005}}</ref>

In the days after his death, former Miami Dolphins head coach [[Don Shula]] praised Reggie Roby, saying "his booming kicks often helped us win the field position battle."<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-02-23/sports/sfl-dolphinsalltimeroby07a_1_randall-kaspar-reggie-roby-dolphins|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110505071754/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-02-23/sports/sfl-dolphinsalltimeroby07a_1_randall-kaspar-reggie-roby-dolphins|url-status = dead|archive-date = May 5, 2011|title = Reggie Roby: Former Dolphin dead at 43|last = Flalkov|first = Harvey|date = February 23, 2005|access-date = August 18, 2015|newspaper = Sun-Sentinel}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{1981 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Dolphins1983DraftPicks}}
{{NFL1980s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roby, Reggie}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:American football punters]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers players]]
[[Category:Iowa Hawkeyes football players]]
[[Category:Miami Dolphins players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Waterloo, Iowa]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers players]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Buccaneers players]]
[[Category:Tennessee Oilers players]]
[[Category:Washington Redskins players]]