Berry, Raymond E.
Football
b. Feb. 27, 1933, Corpus Christi, TX
Hard work finally made Berry a star, but not until his third season of professional football. As an end at Southern Methodist University, he caught only 33 passes and scored 1 touchdown in 3 seasons. When he joined the Baltimore Colts in 1955, he was given little chance to make the team. However, coach "Weeb" Ewbank was impressed with Berry's practice habits and his good hands and kept him as a part-time player.
In 1957, Berry became a starting end and led the NFL in reception yardage with 800 on 47 catches, scoring 6 touchdowns. When the Colts won the league's championship in 1958, Berry led in receptions with 56 and in touchdown receptions with 9, gaining 794 yards. He had an additional 12 catches for 194 yards and 1 touchdown in the Colts' celebrated 23-17 overtime victory over the New York Giants in the NFL title game.
Berry led the league in 1959 with 74 receptions, 959 yards, and 14 touchdowns, and led in receptions with 74 and yards with 1,298 the following season before undergoing knee surgery. Because of the operation, he was used primarily as a possession receiver for the rest of his career. In 1961, he caught 75 passes, his career high, but gained only 873 yards and didn't score.
Berry retired after catching only 11 passes in 1967. He held NFL records, since broken, with 631 receptions and 9,275 yards. He caught 68 touchdown passes.
The slender, 6-foot-2, 187-pound Berry lacked speed, but he developed a variety of moves to get free from defenders and he virtually never dropped a pass he could get his hands on. He constantly worked on catching the ball before and after formal practice, even recruiting sportswriters, groundskeepers, and equipment managers to throw to him.
Berry took over as head coach of the New England Patriots in 1984. The Patriots got into the playoffs as a wild-card team in 1985 and won three games on the road to reach the Super Bowl, where they were demolished 46-10 by the Chicago Bears. They won the AFC Eastern Division title in 1986 but lost to the Denver Broncos in the first round of the playoffs. Berry resigned during the 1989 season with a 51-41 record.