Richard Jon Camarillo (born November 29, 1959) is an American former football punter who played for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots (1981–1987), the Los Angeles Rams (1988), the Phoenix Cardinals (1989–1993), the Houston Oilers (1994–1995), and the Oakland Raiders (1996).

Rich Camarillo
No. 3, 16
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1959-11-29) November 29, 1959 (age 65)
Whittier, California, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:193 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:El Rancho
(Pico Rivera, California)
College:Cerritos
Washington
Undrafted:1981
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Punts:1,027
Punting yards:43,895
Punting average:42.7
Longest punt:76
Inside 20:279
Stats at Pro Football Reference

He played college football for the Cerritos Falcons, where he earned All-American honors.[citation needed] He then transferred and played for the Washington Huskies (1979–1980), where he was selected as a member of the Huskies All-Century team.[citation needed]

Professional career

edit

A consistently solid, dependable punter during his 16 NFL seasons, Camarillo led the league in punting yards twice (1985, 1994), net yard average three times (1983, 1991 and 1992), and gross yards per punt once (1989).[1] He also led the league in 1994 with 35 footballs inside the 20-yard line. With the Patriots, Camarillo made a championship appearance in Super Bowl XX, and ended up punting often as his team was blown out 46–10 by the Chicago Bears.[2] Camarillo punted 6 times for 263 yards (43.8 average), with 225 net yards (37.5 average), one touchback, and one punt in the 20, including a then Super Bowl record 62-yard punt that planted the Bears back at their own 4-yard line, this record being broken by another Patriots punter, Ryan Allen, who kicked a 64-yard punt in Super Bowl XLIX. However, Chicago still managed to drive a Super Bowl-record 96 yards and score a touchdown anyway.

Camarillo finished his career with 1,027 punts for 43,895 yards (42.7 average) and 279 punts inside the 20. Upon his retirement, that mark stood as the most in NFL history. Camarillo also had a career net average of 36.0 yards per punt. He was named to the NFL's all-rookie team in 1981. He was also selected to five Pro Bowl games after the 1983, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons, with Ray Guy and Shane Lechler sharing the record with seven appearances each as of 2016. Camarillo had a punt returned for a touchdown in his first NFL game on October 25, 1981. Fourteen seasons and 876 punts later on October 30, 1994, would be the next time one of his punts was returned for a score. He also owns the NFL's record for highest net avg. in a season with a mark of 39.6 yards. Camarillo's 44.5 yards per punt still stands as the highest punting average in NFL playoff history. He was also selected seven times (first or second-team) All-Pro, in his career. He was also named to the team of the 1990s by CNNSI. Camarillo was a nominee for induction into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, class of 2009.

NFL career statistics

edit
Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

edit
Year Team Punting
GP Punts Yds Net Yds Lng Avg Net Avg Blk Ins20 TB
1981 NWE 9 47 1,959 1,570 75 41.7 33.4 0 12 9
1982 NWE 9 49 2,140 1,849 76 43.7 37.7 0 10 5
1983 NWE 16 81 3,615 3,003 70 44.6 37.1 0 25 11
1984 NWE 7 48 2,020 1,666 61 42.1 34.7 0 12 7
1985 NWE 16 92 3,953 3,095 75 43.0 33.6 0 16 13
1986 NWE 16 89 3,746 3,041 64 42.1 33.1 3 16 7
1987 NWE 12 62 2,489 1,996 73 40.1 31.7 1 14 8
1988 RAM 9 40 1,579 1,394 57 39.5 34.9 0 11 2
1989 PHO 15 76 3,298 2,848 58 43.4 37.5 0 21 6
1990 PHO 16 67 2,865 2,507 63 42.8 37.4 0 16 5
1991 PHO 16 76 3,445 2,992 60 45.3 38.9 1 19 7
1992 PHO 15 54 2,317 2,136 73 42.9 39.6 0 23 2
1993 PHO 16 73 3,189 2,762 61 43.7 37.8 0 23 8
1994 HOU 16 96 4,115 3,497 58 42.9 36.4 0 35 9
1995 HOU 16 77 3,165 2,717 60 41.1 34.8 1 26 8
1996 OAK 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Career 205 1,027 43,895 37,073 76 42.7 35.9 6 279 107

Playoffs

edit
Year Team Punting
GP Punts Yds Net Yds Lng Avg Net Avg Blk Ins20 TB
1982 NWE 1 5 218 178 58 43.6 35.6 0 1 0
1985 NWE 4 21 889 565 62 42.3 25.7 1 3 3
1986 NWE 1 9 452 377 60 50.2 41.9 0 0 2
Career 6 35 1,559 1,120 62 44.5 31.1 1 4 5

After football

edit

Camarillo coached the Ahwatukee Little League All-stars from Phoenix, Arizona in the 2006 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His son, Eric, was a member of that team.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Rich Camarillo Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  2. ^ "Super Bowl XX - Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots - January 26th, 1986". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
edit