Charles Leigh ( American football ) Charles " Charlie " Leigh ( born October 29 , 1945 in Halifax , Virginia – died October 26 , 2006 ) is a former National Football League ( NFL ) running back . He is best known for backing up Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick and returning kicks for the Miami Dolphins ' back to back Super Bowl champions in the 1972 and 1973 seasons . He also played for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers . He played a total of six seasons in the NFL despite never playing college ball . Career . He began his NFL career with the 1968 Cleveland Browns after playing high school football at Albany High School in Albany , New York without having ever played college football . As a running back , he rushed 23 times for 144 yards , a 6 . 3 yards per carry average , and he scored one touchdown . His number of carries , total rushing yards and yards per carry average all proved to be career highs . He was also used extensively as a kick returner . He returned 14 kickoff s for 322 yards , a 23 . 0 yard per return average . And he returned 14 punts for 76 yards , a 5 . 4 yard per return average . Leigh led the Browns and placed 13th in the NFL in both yards per kickoff return and yards per punt return in 1968 . Leigh played for the Cleveland Browns in 1969 as well , but received little time at running back and did not carry the ball the entire season , although he did catch two passes . He did return five punts for 18 yards and two kickoffs for six yards that season . Leigh did not play in the NFL in 1970 , but played for the American Football Conference champion Miami Dolphins in 1971 . For the Dolphins that season he rushed just five times for 15 yards and returned just four kickoffs for 99 yards , although he played in all 14 games . Leigh became the primary punt returner for the famous 1972 Miami Dolphins team that had a perfect season and won Super Bowl VII . Leigh returned 22 punts for 210 yards and a 9 . 5 yard average for the 1972 Dolphins . The 22 punts returned ranked 5th in the NFL that season , and the 210 yards and 9 . 5 average each ranked 6th in the NFL that season . Leigh also returned six kickoff 153 yards , a 25 . 5 yard average , and rushed 21 times for 79 yards , a 3 . 8 yard average . Leigh got to play in Miami ' s 14 - 7 Super Bowl victory over the Washington Redskins , but did not have any carries or returns . Leigh had one of his most productive seasons in 1973 for the Dolphins , another Super Bowl championship team . Leigh rushed 22 times for 134 yards for a 6 . 1 yards per carry average with one touchdown . His yards per carry average was second on the team to Mercury Morris ' league leading 6 . 4 . He also returned nine kickoffs for 251 yards , for a 27 . 9 average that would have ranked 6th in the NFL had he had enough returns to qualify for the league leaders . He also had nine punt returns for 64 yards , for a 7 . 1 average . 1974 was Leigh ' s final NFL season . He played one game for the Dolphins before moving to the Green Bay Packers . He played 10 games for the Packers . For the season , he returned 11 kickoffs , all but two for the Packers , for 251 yards and a 22 . 8 yard average . He also carried the ball one time for the Packers but did not gain any yards . Career stats . For his career , Leigh rushed 72 times for 372 yards , a 5 . 2 yards per carry average and two touchdowns . The 5 . 2 yards per carry average was better than several of his more celebrated teammates , including Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly ( 4 . 2 ) , Hall of Famer Larry Csonka ( 4 . 3 ) , 3 time Pro Bowl er Mercury Morris ( 5 . 1 ) and 2 time Pro Bowler Jim Kiick ( 3 . 7 ) . He also returned 46 kickoffs for 1082 yards and a 23 . 5 yards per return average , and returned 50 punts for 368 yards and a 7 . 4 yards per return average . Death . Leigh died of lung cancer on October 26 , 2006 .