Don Cockroft

Don Cockroft
Don Cockroft
No. 12     
Punter / Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth: February 6, 1945 (1945-02-06) (age 66)
Place of birth: Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
College: Adams State
NFL Draft: 1967 / Round: 3 / Pick: 55
Debuted in 1968 for the Cleveland Browns
Last played in 1980 for the Cleveland Browns
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • N/A
Career NFL statistics as of 1980
Field goal attempts     328
Field goals made     216
Field goal %     65.9
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Donald Lee Cockroft (born February 6, 1945) is a former American football punter and placekicker who played thirteen seasons in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He has the third most career points for a Brown behind fellow kickers Phil Dawson (second) and Lou Groza.

Cockroft served as the Browns' primary punter and placekicker for the first nine seasons of his career. In 1977 he dropped punting from his duties and became solely a placekicker. He and Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker/punter Dave Green were two of the last NFL players to lead their teams in both punting and kicking in the same season (1976).

Later NFL players to have this dual distinction were Steve Little of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979, and Frank Corral for the Los Angeles Rams in 1980 and 1981.