Colin Ridgway
| No. 88 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Punter | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: | February 19, 1937 | ||||||
| Place of birth: | Melbourne, Australia | ||||||
| Date of death: | 13 May 1993 (aged 56) | ||||||
| Place of death: | University Park, Texas | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 211 lb (96 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| College: | Lamar | ||||||
| Undrafted: | 1965 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||
| Games played: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Punts: | 13 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Colin Edwin Ridgway (February 19, 1937 – May 13, 1993) was an American football punter distinguished as being the first Australian to play in the National Football League. He also competed in the high jump at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Ridgway began his sporting career playing Australian rules football. He reached the VFL reserves level, playing for the Carlton Football Club in the 1960s.
He was a high jumper who competed at the 1956 Olympic Games (where he was the youngest high jumper) and the 1958 Commonwealth Games for Australia. He had also competed in the Australian Open Track and Field Championships from 1955/56 to 1959/60. Ridgway failed to make the 1960 Australian Olympic team and so accepted an offer of a track and field scholarship to Lamar Tech (now Lamar University). In 1961, he became the first Commonwealth athlete to clear 7 foot in the high jump.
Even though he never played an official American football game, he was discovered by the Dallas Cowboys and signed as an undrafted free agent to their 1965 team. During the preseason, he played a key role in the beating of the Green Bay Packers. He started the year on the taxi squad, before being promoted to the regular roster on November 3. He participated in a total of three games as a punter, making him the first Australian to play in the NFL.
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