Timothy John Dwight Jr. (born July 13, 1975) 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
wide receiver
A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
and
return specialist for 10 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). 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
Iowa Hawkeyes, and was a two-time
All-American. He was selected by the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
in the fourth round of the
1998 NFL draft, and he played professionally for the Falcons,
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
,
New England Patriots,
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
and
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...
of the NFL.
Dwight is remembered for his 94-yard touchdown return on a kickoff in
Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion 1998 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...
against the
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 ...
.
College career
Dwight attended the University of Iowa, where he played for the
Iowa Hawkeyes football team. He finished his college career with
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
records for punt return yardage (1,102) and punts returned for
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
s (5); his yardage mark has since been eclipsed by three others and
Ted Ginn Jr. surpassed his return touchdown mark. Dwight held the Hawkeyes team record for career receiving touchdowns (21) until 2011, when his mark was surpassed by
Marvin McNutt. He held the team record for career receiving yards (2,271) until 2010 when
Derrell Johnson-Koulianos became the all-time leader in receiving yards. In 1997, Dwight was a
consensus first-team All-American and finished seventh in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy.
On December 12, 2014, the
Big Ten Network included Dwight on "The Mount Rushmore of
Iowa Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Dwight was joined in the honor by
Nile Kinnick,
Chuck Long and
Alex Karras.
On November 24, 2015, an annual award from the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
was created in honor of Dwight and
Johnny Rodgers called the
Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year.
Track and field
Dwight also competed in
track events, with personal bests of 10.31 seconds in the 100 meters and 20.98 seconds in the 200 meters; in 1999, he was Big Ten Champion in the
100-meter dash, and he also was a member of the Big Ten champion
4x400-meter relay and
4x100-meter relay teams in 1999, and the Big Ten champion 4x100-meter relay team in 1998.
Personal bests
Professional career
Atlanta Falcons
Dwight was drafted in the fourth round (114th overall) of the
1998 NFL draft by the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
.
In
Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion 1998 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...
, he returned five kickoffs, including one for 94 yards and a touchdown. He is second all-time in
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
kick return yardage for a single game (210), and his 42.0 yards per return in the game was a Super Bowl career record. Dwight is also known as "The Man".
San Diego Chargers
After three seasons with Atlanta, Dwight was traded on April 20, 2001, to the
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
as part of the deal that enabled the Falcons to select quarterback
Michael Vick with the 2001 draft's top selection (which the Chargers originally held pursuant to their 1–15 record in 2000).
New England Patriots
Dwight became a free agent following the 2004 season, and on March 11, 2005, he signed with the
New England Patriots. As a New England Patriot, Dwight caught 19 passes for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns and also gained 523 yards returning punts and kickoffs.
New York Jets
After the
2005 NFL season, Dwight signed a four-year contract to play for the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
, and was expected to play as the fourth wide receiver and perform return duties.
For the 2006 season, Dwight played in nine games totaling 16 receptions for 112 yards, before being placed on IR in early December. He also had 146 punt return yards.
Oakland Raiders
Dwight signed a one-year contract with the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...
in October 2007. He returned one kickoff, and totaled 98 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver. He became a free agent after that season but did not play in the NFL in 2008.
Accomplishments and reputation
Despite being only 5'8" tall and weighing 185 pounds, Dwight was a prolific punt and kick returner during his career. He was labeled "injury-prone" because he rarely played a season without missing a significant number of games. The 2005 season was the only season in which Dwight appeared in all 16 of his team's games. Dwight's most productive seasons as a wide receiver have been
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, when he caught 32 passes for 669 yards (a 20.9-yard average per catch) with seven touchdowns, and
2002, when he caught 50 passes for 623 yards. He also scored five return touchdowns in the NFL, three on punts and two on kickoffs.
Dwight has a number of interests outside football. He founded the Tim Dwight Foundation to help needy kids with scholarships and provide assistance to the Children's Hospital of Iowa. He also owns his own yoga studio in Iowa.
In 2007, ''The Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette'' sports staff voted Dwight the all-time greatest athlete from that newspaper's circulation area, topping other notables like NFL quarterback
Kurt Warner and 2007 Masters champion
Zach Johnson.
NFL career statistics
References
External links
University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwight, Tim
1975 births
Living people
American football return specialists
American football wide receivers
Atlanta Falcons players
Iowa Hawkeyes football players
New England Patriots players
New York Jets players
Oakland Raiders players
San Diego Chargers players
All-American college football players
Iowa City High School alumni
Players of American football from Iowa City, Iowa
American male sprinters
Iowa Hawkeyes men's track and field athletes