Michael Robert Pritchard (born October 26, 1969) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. He played in the NFL for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Seattle Seahawks over a nine-year career. Pritchard grew up in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and starred as an all-purpose back. His athletic talent attracted attention from collegiate football programs from across the nation. Pritchard eventually accepted an athletic scholarship offer from head coach Bill McCartney of the

. There, Pritchard was a versatile player who excelled at a variety of positions, including

, kick returner, and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. As a senior in 1990, he was named first-team All- Big Eight at wide receiver, also garnering honorable mention All-American honors from the

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. That same year he was named the most valuable player on CU's national championship team, the only one in school history. Pritchard was later inducted into the University of Colorado sports Hall of Fame in 2015. Pritchard was the first of nine Colorado players selected in the 1991

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. He was selected 13th overall by the Atlanta Falcons. He played nine seasons in the NFL, spending time with Atlanta (1991–93), Denver (1994–95) and Seattle (1996–99). Pritchard had his best professional season in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

while he was with the Falcons. That year he caught 77 receptions for 827 yards and scored 5 touchdowns. In 127 career NFL games, he caught 422 passes for 5,178 yards (12.3 yard average) and scored 26 touchdowns. After his playing career, he moved back to his hometown of Las Vegas where he embarked on a broadcasting career doing color commentary on the UNLV radio network. He has also appeared on TV and radio as a commentator and in both the Las Vegas and Denver areas. Pritchard currently co-hosts a radio morning show on KRLV in Las Vegas.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Mike 1969 births Living people American football wide receivers American sports radio personalities Atlanta Falcons players Colorado Buffaloes football players Denver Broncos players Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from North Las Vegas, Nevada Players of American football from Sumter, South Carolina Players of American football from Nevada 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen