Michael Craig Nelms (born April 8, 1955) 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

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

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) for five seasons with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

from 1980 to 1984. Before his NFL career, Nelms played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). 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 ...

for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

College career

Nelms began his college career at Sam Houston State in 1973. He then transferred to

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, where he played for the Bears under head coach Grant Taeff. Nelms played defensive back in college and also returned kicks on occasion. During his college career at Baylor, he only returned a handful of kicks, but he did have one interception

Professional career

Nelms began his professional career after being drafted by the Buffalo Bills. He was the last cut in training camp. He then signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL in 1977. Later that year, he was optioned to the Ottawa Rough Riders. Nelms was a three-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

er in 1980, 1981 and 1982. He led the NFL in yards per kickoff return twice (1981, 1982) and was the Redskins starting punt returner in

Super Bowl XVII Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. In Super Bowl XVII, he returned six punts for 52 yards, both Super Bowl records, along with two kickoff returns for 44 yards. Nelms finished his five seasons with 175 kickoff returns for 4,128 yards, 212 punt returns for 1,948 yards and two touchdowns, and one interception in 68 games. Nelms earned his interception in a 30–17 loss to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

and the expense of 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.

After football

Mike formerly owned Champion Chevrolet Toyota in Culpeper, Virginia. His son, Kirkland, received a scholarship to play at

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. Nelms also has three daughters, who each went on to play collegiate athletics, including Kurstin Nelms, who ran track for Columbia University. In 2017, Mike Nelms was inducted into the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame. He joined Redskins legends

Mark Moseley Mark DeWayne Moseley (born March 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played for Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971–72) ...

, Art Monk, Chris Hanburger, Ken Houston, Darrell Green, and Russ Grimm. Other members of the hall include Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, Tony Kornheiser, and former Capitals play-by-play announcer Ron Weber.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelms, Mike 1955 births Living people American football safeties American football return specialists Washington Redskins players National Conference Pro Bowl players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Ottawa Rough Riders players Canadian football defensive backs Baylor Bears football players Players of Canadian football from Texas