David Verser (born March 1, 1958) is a former

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 ...

wide receiver in 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 ...

Career

He played football at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, where, during his senior year, he led the Jayhawks in receiving with 21 receptions for 463 yards and five touchdowns. He earned a degree in social work. Verser was selected in the first round by 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 the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981, at the New York S ...

. He had 23 receptions in four seasons as a backup receiver. In 1981, he caught six passes for 161 yards (26.8 yards per catch) and scored two touchdowns, and he returned 29 kicks for 691 yards, a 23.8 average. In the 1981 AFC championship game, known as the

Freezer Bowl In National Football League lore, the Freezer Bowl is the nickname given to the 1981 AFC Championship Game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was played on January 10, 1982, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, ...

, he had a 40-yard kickoff return that set up a Bengals touchdown. He played in

Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, which the Bengals lost to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, 26-21, but had a dismal performance returning 5 kickoffs for just 52 yards. He also infamously missed a blocking audible that contributed to a failed 4th and goal conversion attempt from the 49ers 1-yard line. During the 1982 through 1984 seasons, Verser was a backup wide receiver and kick returner for the Bengals. After the

1985 NFL Draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also he ...

, he was traded to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

and later signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, for whom he played one game and returned four kicks in 1985. He was out of football in 1986, and in 1987 played two games for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, with one rush for nine yards. He finished his NFL career with 65 kickoff returns for 1,371 yards, and 23 receptions for 451 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 8 carries for 51 yards. After leaving football and with a degree in social work, he became a social worker, worked for the

Hamilton County, Ohio Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county ...

Juvenile Court, then he became a police officer with the

Cincinnati Police Department The Cincinnati Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency of Cincinnati, Ohio. The department has 1,057 sworn officers and 281 non-sworn employees. History When Cincinnati incorporated, as a village, in 1802, a ‘ night watch� ...

. He retired from the department after 12 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verser, David 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas American football wide receivers Kansas Jayhawks football players Cincinnati Bengals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Cleveland Browns players University of Kansas alumni