Ricky Nattiel
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | January 25, 1966 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Gainesville, Florida | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Newberry (FL) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1987 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||||
| Games played: | 70 |
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| Games started: | 17 |
| Receptions: | 121 |
| Receiving yards: | 1,972 |
| Touchdowns: | 8 |
| Kick return yards: | 421 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Richard Rennard Nattiel (born January 25, 1966), nicknamed "Ricky the Rocket," is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Nattiel played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Denver Broncos of the NFL.
Nattiel was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1966. He attended Newberry High School in nearby Newberry, Florida, where he was the quarterback for the Newberry Panthers high school football team. During his senior season in 1982, Nattiel led his Panthers to a 9–1 regular season and two state playoff victories, before the Panthers lost in the Florida Class 2A state semifinal game. Nattiel also played basketball and ran track for the Panthers, and was recognized as an all-county athlete in both.
Nattiel accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he was a wide receiver for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1983 to 1986. Notwithstanding his high school background as a quarterback, he was recruited as a defensive back and possibly as a wide receiver, but necessity his freshman year in 1983 forced the coaches' choice. When senior Gators receiver Dwayne Dixon was hobbled halfway through the season, Nattiel started in his place and established his own reputation as a future star receiver to be watched. Nattiel was a key target of Gators quarterback Kerwin Bell during the 1984 and 1985 seasons, when the Gators posted identical 9–1–1 overall win-loss records and led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with best-in-the-conference records of 5–0–1 and 5–1. Memorably, he dashed ninety-six yards on a touchdown pass from Bell in the Gators' 27–0 victory over the rival Georgia Bulldogs in 1984, contributing to his nickname, "Ricky the Rocket." Nattiel finished his college career with 117 receptions for 2,086 yards and eighteen touchdowns; he also had 589 yards in punt returns. He was a team captain, a first-team All-SEC selection and a second-team All-American in 1986, and received the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award as the senior who most displayed "outstanding leadership, courage and character."
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