ONTARIO — Don Cockroft was in town Wednesday for a signing of his book, “The 1980 Kardiac Kids — Our Untold Stories,” at Graham Auto Mall. He stopped by Ontario High School to offer some pointers to the Warriors in advance of their season opener at Lexington on Aug. 29.
The 69-year-old Cockroft took a snap from center and gingerly swung his right leg at the football, lofting it ever so gently into an azure sky crowded with puffy white clouds.
The ball traveled no more than 15 yards before landing softly in the turf on the practice field adjacent to Ontario’s Copeland Field.
“I’m going to come back here next year, after I have had my hip replaced,” the former Cleveland Browns kicker and punter said, “and then I can show these kids how to do it instead of just telling them how to do it.”
“I love working with kids. It brings back a lot of great memories for me,” Cockroft said. “The only problem is I can’t really get involved as much as I would like to. I’ve had both knees replaced and I’m getting my hip replaced next week.”
Ontario’s punters and kickers couldn’t have asked for a better special teams advisor, despite Cockroft’s physical limitations. A third-round pick in the 1967 draft, he was among the NFL’s best during a distinguished 13-year career with the Browns from 1968 to 1980.
One of the league’s last combined punter-kickers, Cockroft led the NFL in field goal percentage in 1968, 1972 and 1974 and topped the league in punt yards in 1972. He was a Newspaper Enterprise Association first team NFL selection in 1972.
“It’s not very often that you have the opportunity to learn from a former NFL player,” said Ontario sophomore Hunter Plew, a kicker and punter who by his own admission knew little of Cockroft’s professional career. “He stressed to us that, if you keep working, you can get there just like he did.”
Cockroft’s road to the NFL began at Adams State (Colo.) University. The Browns, looking for a replacement for the legendary Lou “The Toe” Groza, selected Cockroft with the 55th overall pick.
“Without (then Browns head coach) Blanton Collier I probably would have never made the team. He believed in me,” Cockroft said. “I was one of the last players in the NFL to handle both the punting and the kicking. Blanton came to me early in my career and said, ‘Don, you can do them both.’
“You have to remember that, when I got to the Browns, there were only 40 players on the roster and when I left there were 43. Today there are 53 players on the active roster, so there is more specialization now.”
When he retired after the 1980 season, Cockroft ranked second to Groza on Cleveland’s career scoring list (1,060 points). He also was second to Groza in career field goals made (216) and extra points made (432).
“I’m glad Don was here, because our punters and kickers were able to interact with someone who has done it as the highest level,” Ontario special teams coordinator Mike Lyons said. “It’s not that often that our kids can get a few tips from a guy like that. It was a pleasure to have him here.”
As for Cockroft, he was impressed with what he saw Wednesday afternoon.
“I love working with kids who want to do things the right way,” he said. “There are two or three guys here who have good legs and I was really impressed with their field goal kicker.
“Punting is the the hardest thing to master and I’m not sure if one time with punters will help, but I hope it does.”
A 2007 Browns Legends enshrinee, Cockroft said rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel has plenty to learn.
“The kid has got some athletic ability, there’s no doubt about it,” Cockroft said. “I just think there is something about humility. I’m not impressed with all this other stuff that’s going on.
“I like Brian Hoyer. He’s bigger and he showed us some stuff last fall that we haven’t seen in a long time. I still think Hoyer can be the No. 1 quarterback and if Manziel is really that good, we’ll have two really good quarterbacks. We’ll see.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
