No. 86 | |||||||||
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Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. | February 5, 1961||||||||
Died: | February 16, 2015 Fort Washington, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 54)||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Oxon Hill (MD) Potomac[1] | ||||||||
College: | Tennessee | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1984 / round: 1 / pick: 17 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Clyde Louis Duncan, Jr. (February 5, 1961 – February 16, 2015)[2] was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers. Duncan was a first-round pick for the Cardinals in the 1984 NFL draft, but he only played in 1984 and 1985, finishing his career with just four receptions.[3]
Duncan attended Potomac High School, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.[4] Playing at both receiver and tailback for Potomac's football team, he accumulated 2,209 yards his senior year, including 958 yards receiving and 808 yards rushing, and was named a high school All-American by Football News and the Maryland Player of the Year by the Washington Pigskin Club.[1]
Duncan played college football at Tennessee from 1979 to 1983.[5] Along with teammates Willie Gault, Anthony Hancock, Lenny Taylor and Tim McGee, he helped create the school's reputation as "Wide Receiver U."[6] He played sparingly in 1979, redshirted in 1980, played as a defensive back in 1981, and played primarily as a reserve receiver in 1982.[7] In 1983, however, he led the team in receiving with 33 catches for 640 yards and six touchdowns.[8] He caught touchdown passes of 80 yards and 57 yards in Tennessee's 41–34 win over Alabama,[9] and his 85-yard touchdown catch against Vanderbilt remains the third-longest in school history.[10] He attracted close attention from scouts for his workout performance at the 1983 Blue–Gray Football Classic.[11]
Duncan was selected in the first round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Cardinals.[12] Duncan's rookie year was disrupted by a contract dispute,[13] and he did not sign with the Cardinals until September 10.[14] He soon separated his shoulder, sending him to the injured reserve list.[15] In 1985, Duncan did work his way into the lineup, but caught only four passes on the season[16] and lost his role as third receiver.[17] The Cardinals released Duncan on August 18, 1986.[18] Duncan was subsequently acquired by the Cleveland Browns in the spring of 1987,[19] but he was released at the start of preseason[20] and did not appear in another NFL game.
He died at the age of 54 in 2015.[21][22]