Craig Bingham (American football)

Bingham was born in Kingston, Jamaica and attended Stamford High School in Stamford, Connecticut.^[1]

He matriculated at Syracuse University.^[1] His college teammates included future Hall of Famer Art Monk as well as several other future NFL players: Gary Anderson, Joe Morris, Jim Collins, Craig Wolfley, Andrew Gissinger and Bill Hurley.^[2]

Bingham was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 1982 NFL draft.^[1] Over the first two seasons of his career he was used primarily as a special teams player by the Steelers.^[3] Early in the 1983 season he suffered a knee injury which was significantly exacerbated in a playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders.^[3][4] The injury was initially thought to be career-ending, but after three surgeries and significant rehab, Bingham was back in time for the 1984 season.^[3][4]

Bingham got his first chance to start in week 14 of the 1984 season against the Houston Oilers^[3] due to an injury to Bryan Hinkle. That would turn out to be the only non-strike start of his career.^[5]

Bingham was released by the Steelers in September 1985. He was among the team's final cuts in training camp.^[6] He was picked up by the San Diego Chargers with whom he was active for eight games in 1985.^[5]

Bingham finished his professional career as a replacement player for the Steelers during the 1987 NFL players' strike. He started in all three replacement games, but was once again released once the strike was settled.^[5][7]