Kevin Leander Belcher (November 9, 1961 – April 12, 1997) was an American 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 ...

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who played two seasons 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) with the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

and

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 ...

. He was selected by the Raiders in the seventh round of the

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

. He played

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at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

Early life and college

Kevin Leander Belcher was born on November 9, 1961, in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. He attended Bassick High School in Bridgeport. He was a member of the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

of the

from 1981 to 1984 and a three-year

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from 1982 to 1984.

Professional career

Belcher was selected by the

with the 186th pick in the

and played in four games for the team during the 1985 season. He also spent time on injured reserve during the season. He was released by the Raiders in August 1986. Belcher played in one game, a start, for the

in 1987.

Personal life

Belcher died at his home in

Howard, Wisconsin Howard is a village in Brown and Outagamie counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 19,950 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Green Bay metropolitan area. The village is mostly within Brown County; a small portion extend ...

on April 12, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Kevin 1961 births 1997 deaths American football offensive tackles Wisconsin Badgers football players Los Angeles Raiders players Denver Broncos players Players of American football from Bridgeport, Connecticut People from Howard, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Brown County, Wisconsin