Reggie Roby Reginald Henry " Reggie " Roby ( July 30 , 1961 – February 22 , 2005 ) was an American college and professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League ( NFL ) for sixteen seasons during the 1980s and 1990s . He played college football for the University of Iowa , and was recognized as a consensus All - American . He played professionally for the Miami Dolphins , Washington Redskins , Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Houston / Tennessee Oilers , and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL . Roby died of unrevealed causes at his Nashville home in 2005 . Early years . Roby was born in Waterloo , Iowa . In addition to playing high school football , he was also a standout pitcher on the Waterloo East High School baseball team , and was drafted by Major League Baseball ' s Cincinnati Reds . Instead , he chose to attend college . College career . Roby attended the University of Iowa , where he played for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team from 1979 to 1982 . Despite the fact that he had experience at quarterback and possessed a strong arm , Hawkeyes head coach Hayden Fry made the 6 ' 4 " , 250 - pounder a punter and kick - off specialist , also using him for long range field goals . Before Roby arrived , the Hawkeyes had not had a winning season in twenty years . With Roby , the 1981 team earned its first Rose Bowl invitation in twenty - three years on the strength of a 6 - 2 conference record ( 8 - 4 overall ) and co - Big Ten championship with Ohio State . Roby set an NCAA season record with a 49 . 8 - yard average . In 1982 , he led the nation with a 48 . 1 - yard average . His career average of 45 . 4 yards ranks among college football ' s best and is still a school record . Reggie was also given the kick off duties and routinely kicked the ball through the uprights at Iowa , a total of 26 times . He was 28 - 34 for PAT ' s and was 11 - 27 in FG attempts , mostly from long range . Professional career . As a professional , his 38 . 7 net average led the league in 1986 , and his 45 . 7 average yards led the NFL in 1991 , and he set a Pro Bowl record with 10 punts in the 1985 game . His 58 . 5 - yard single - game average on September 28 , 1986 remains a Dolphin team record . At Rich Stadium , Roby punted the ball a team record 77 yards , but the punt was returned 70 yards . He completed the only pass attempt of his career , a 48 - yarder to John Booty in 1995 . Roby was selected as a punter for the NFL ' s 1980s All - Decade Team . Roby played sixteen seasons in the NFL and had 992 punts for 42 , 951 yards . His career yards per punt average was 43 . 3 , with a net average of 34 . 0 . He had 298 punts beyond the 20 - yard line and 112 touchback s . Roby helped popularize the now - standard two - step approach and often wore a watch to gauge his hangtime . He was one of a handful of African American kickers in National Football League history . In 1993 , Roby ' s financial difficulties led to him filing for bankruptcy . The Miami Dolphins had cut him after the 1992 season largely because a corollary of this filing would have meant he could have become a free agent and left Miami at any point of the following season , but he continued to play professionally until 1998 and later became marketing and development director for Backfield in Motion , a non - profit group mixing athletics and academics to help inner city boys . Death . On February 22 , 2005 , Roby ' s son , Julian , found him without a pulse in their Nashville home . The cause of death , although no report has been officially released , is thought to have been from a massive heart attack from an over enlarged heart . He left behind 4 children : Julian , Dominic , Sophia , and Jovita . In the days after his death , former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula praised Reggie Roby : " He was an outstanding punter for us and his booming kicks often helped us win the field position battle . " Family . Reggie ' s cousin , Courtney Roby , is a wide receiver in the NFL .