Darryl Drake (December 11, 1956 – August 11, 2019) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. His career spanned four decades, including stints as the wide receivers coach of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

, and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL).

College career

Drake played wide receiver for

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabet ...

from 1975 to 1978.

Professional career

Drake played wide receiver for three professional teams, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in 1979, the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in 1981, and the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

in 1983.

Coaching career

Drake coached at the collegiate level for 21 years. He joined the

coaching staff on February 6, 2004. On January 17, 2013, Drake was not retained by new head coach

Marc Trestman Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head co ...

. He later spent five seasons with the

before joining the

in 2018.

Personal life

Drake and his wife, Sheila, had three daughters. He died on August 11, 2019, at the age of 62. The official cause of death is still to be determined.

References

External links

* 1956 births 2019 deaths American football wide receivers African-American players of Canadian football Chicago Bears coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Texas Longhorns football coaches Arizona Cardinals coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Baylor Bears football coaches Washington Redskins players Ottawa Rough Riders players Cincinnati Bengals players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people {{Amfoot-coach-stub