Raymond Berry Raymond Emmett Berry ( born February 27 , 1933 ) is a former football wide receiver . He played for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins . He later had a career in coaching , highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots . He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Military service . Raymond Berry enlisted as a private in the Maryland Army National Guard on May 17 , 1957 . He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 684th Anti - Aircraft Artillery Battalion ( 90 mm Gun ) , located near Baltimore . He subsequently served in Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 684th Missile Battalion ( Nike ) ; Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 224th Field Artillery Group ; Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 691st Anti - Aircraft Artillery Group ; and Company B , 16th Special Forces Group , all components of the Maryland National Guard . He was discharged from the National Guard in March 1963 , at the end of his second enlistment , with the rank of Specialist Four . NFL career . In high school and college , Berry caught very few passes . He didn ' t start on his high - school team until he was a senior , even though his father was the coach . In three seasons at Southern Methodist University , Berry received only 33 passes total before being selected by the Colts in the 20th round of the 1954 NFL draft . Of course , during the early 1950s , colleges specialized in the running game . As Berry said , " I didn ' t catch many passes because not many were thrown " . Berry , however , became a permanent starter on the team by his second NFL season , and didn ' t miss a single game until his eighth year in the league . During his career , he led the NFL in receptions three times . In his career he only dropped a total of two passes . He was selected to the Pro Bowl six times , from 1957 – 61 and in 1965 . He also made the all - NFL team from 1958 - 1960 . Berry was considered the very identity of the great Colts ' teams of the 1950s and 1960s ( along with Johnny Unitas , Alan Ameche , Lenny Moore , John Mackey , Gino Marchetti , Art Donovan and Jim Parker ) . He was famous for his attention to detail and preparation . He and quarterback John Unitas regularly worked after practice and developed the timing and knowledge of each other ' s abilities that made each more effective . In addition to his great record as a pass receiver , Berry ' s dedication to his craft is demonstrated by , in a 13 - year career , his fumbling the football only once . One of Berry ' s most notable performances was in the 1958 NFL Championship Game , known as " The Greatest Game Ever Played , " in which he caught a championship - record 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown . During the Colts ' final game - winning drive in overtime , Berry had two key receptions for 33 yards . He also caught three consecutive passes for 62 yards to set up the Colts tying field goal at the end of regulation . Raymond Berry ended his NFL career in 1967 with an NFL record 631 receptions for 9 , 275 yards and 68 touchdowns ( 14 . 7 yards per catch ) . In 1973 , Berry was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton , Ohio . In 1999 , he was ranked No . 40 on " The Sporting News " ' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players . Coaching career . Berry joined the New England Patriots as receivers coach under Chuck Fairbanks in 1978 . He stayed on with new coach Ron Erhardt until Erhardt and his entire staff were fired following a 2 - 14 1981 season . Berry left football and worked in the private sector in Medfield , MA until the Patriots fired Ron Meyer in the middle of the 1984 season and hired Berry to replace him . Under his leadership , the Patriots won 4 of their last 8 games and finished the season with an 9 - 7 record . Berry ' s importance to the team was reflected less in his initial win - loss record than in the respect he immediately earned in the locker room - " Raymond Berry earned more respect in one day than Ron Meyer earned in three years , " according to running back Tony Collins . In the 1985 season , the team did even better , recording an 11 - 5 record and making the playoffs as a wildcard team . They went on to become the first team in NFL history ever to advance to the Super Bowl by winning 3 playoff games on the road , defeating New York Jets 26 - 14 , the Los Angeles Raiders , 27 - 20 , and the Miami Dolphins 31 - 14 . New England ' s win against Miami was particularly surprising because the Patriots had not beaten the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl ( Miami ' s then home stadium ) since 1966 , in Miami ' s first AFL season . The Patriots had lost to the Dolphins there 18 consecutive times , including a 30 - 27 loss in week 15 of the regular season . In addition , the Dolphins had recorded an AFC best 12 - 4 record and had been the only team during the season to defeat the Chicago Bears , who had stormed to the top of the NFC with a 15 - 1 record and advanced to the Super Bowl by shutting out both their opponents in the playoffs . But despite the Patriots ' success in the playoffs , they proved unable to compete with the Bears in Super Bowl XX , losing 46 - 10 in what was at the time the most lopsided defeat in Super Bowl history . " We couldn ' t protect the quarterback , and that was my fault . I couldn ' t come up with a system to handle the Bears ' pass rush , " Berry acknowledged . The following season , Berry ' s Patriots again recorded an 11 - 5 record and made the playoffs , but this time lost in the first round of the postseason . This would be the last time the Patriots would make the playoffs with Berry as their coach . They narrowly missed the playoffs with an 8 - 7 ( during a strike shortened season ) record in 1987 , and a 9 - 7 record in 1988 . Then in Berry ' s last year as a coach , the Patriots finished the 1989 season 5 - 11 . New Patriots team owner Victor Kiam demanded Berry relinquish control over personnel and reorganize his staff . Berry refused and was fired . Berry ' s overall coaching record is 48 wins and 39 losses , and 3 - 2 in the playoffs . Berry currently lives with his wife in Murfreesboro , Tennessee .