Royce Elmer Berry (born April 19, 1946) is an American former

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) in 1969 and 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) from 1970 to 1976.

Early life

Berry grew up in

Odessa, Texas Odessa () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, Ector County with portions extending into Midland County, Texas, Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, and played football at

Permian High School Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of two high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and TV ...

. He was also on the 1964 basketball team, the first in program history to win the district championship, as well as the baseball team. Berry 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

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in 1965, 1966 and in 1968. He missed the 1967 season due to injury.

NFL career

He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round (161st overall) of the 1969 AFL/NFL

Common Draft The common draft was the selection of college football players in a combined draft from 1967 to 1969 by the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). This took place after the AFL-NFL merger agreement in 1966. From 1 ...

. In his sophomore season of 1970, he started all 14 games as a defensive end, most notably the first-ever Bengals-

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

matchup in which Berry scooped up a fumble and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown. He missed only one start between 1970 and 1973 at left defensive end as part of a formidable line along with Mike Reid,

Steve Chomyszak Stephen John Chomyszak (February 27, 1944 – January 25, 1988) was an American football defensive lineman in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). A defensive tackle, he played for the AFL's New York Jets (1 ...

and Ron Carpenter. In 1974, he played in 13 games, starting one. He was on injured reserve with a broken wrist and did not see action for the Bengals in 1975. Berry served as defensive captain for six seasons. In May, 1976, Berry was traded to the Chicago Bears. Berry returned for one more NFL season, his eighth, in 1976 with the Chicago Bears, for whom he played in 12 games, starting two. He was waived by the Bears just prior to the 1977 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Royce 1946 births Cincinnati Bengals players Chicago Bears players Houston Cougars football players Players of American football from Odessa, Texas Living people American Football League players