Autry Beamon
American gridiron football player (born 1953)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autry Beamon Jr. (born November 12, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for three teams in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the East Texas Lions.
Terrell, Texas, U.S.
| No. 27, 24, 23 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | November 12, 1953 Terrell, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Kaufman (TX) | ||||||||||||
| College | East Texas | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1975: 12th round, 311th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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College career
Beamon played college football at East Texas State University (now East Texas A&M University) and is in the university's Athletic Hall of Fame.[1] The Hall of Fame citation says that at age 16 he was the youngest college player in the country in 1970.[2]
He is still the only player in his college's history to be a four-time first team All-Lone Star Conference selection.[3]
He is in both the Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor and the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
Professional career
In the 1975 NFL draft, the Minnesota Vikings chose Beamon in the 12th round (draft pick 311 overall).[5] He was on the Vikings team that played in Super Bowl XI, losing to the then Oakland Raiders in January 1977.[6]
In the course of his seven-year NFL career Beamon made 13 interceptions for 132 yards including a career best six picks in the 1977 season for the Seattle Seahawks.[7] The following season he had four interceptions for the Seahawks.[8] Only two players in the NFL — Rolland Lawrence of the Atlanta Falcons and Mario Clark of the Buffalo Bills — had more interceptions in each of those two seasons, 1977 and 1978.[9][10]
Beamon had at least one fumble recovery in all but one of his seven NFL seasons for a career total of eight: three for the Vikings, three for the Seahawks and two for the Browns.[11]
In 1977 Beamon scored his only NFL touchdown, returning a blocked punt in a Seahawks home game against the Baltimore Colts.[12][13][14] His only other points in the NFL also came from a blocked punt for the Vikings in a home game against the New York Jets in 1975, resulting in a 2-point safety.[15][16][17]
In both the 1978 and 1979 seasons he was the special teams captain for the Seahawks.[18]