Reggie Swinton
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| Reggie Swinton | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | August 24, 1975 |
| Place of birth | Live Oaks, Florida |
| Position(s) | KR, PR, WR |
| College | Murray State |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 2001-2003 2003-2004 2005 |
Dallas Cowboys Detroit Lions Arizona Cardinals |
Reginald Terrell Swinton (born August 24, 1975 in Live Oaks, Florida) is a National Football League punt and kick return specialist.
[edit] Pro Career
Swinton has four career NFL kick returns for touchdowns, two on punt returns, two on kickoff returns.
After signing as a rookie free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars but not making the team in 1998, his pro career began in 1999 in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers where he ranked 10th in the CFL in kickoff returns with a 25.8 average and one touchdown. He was released from the CFL after that season and resurfaced in 2001 with the Arkansas Twisters in arenafootball2 where he led the team with 85 pass receptions for 1,463 yards and 33 touchdowns. That fall he joined the Dallas Cowboys, where he set single-season club records for kickoff returns (56), kickoff return yards (1,327), and combined kick return yards (1,741).
His 13.7-yard average on punt returns ranked third in the NFL, second in the NFC, and his 23.7-yard average on kickoff returns was ninth in the NFL and seventh in the NFC. Those numbers earned him second-team All-Pro recognition from College and Pro Football Newsweekly as a punt returner.[1]
After averaging 24.9 yards on kickoff returns (including a touchdown) and 7.4 yards on punt returns in 2002, Swinton was released early in the 2003 season by the Cowboys but was shortly thereafter signed by the Detroit Lions. In Detroit, Swinton finished the season averaging 13.8 yards on punt returns, fourth-best in the NFL. He was one of only two players in the league (with Kansas City's Dante Hall) to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown that season.[2]
In 2004 with the Lions, he averaged 22.8 yards on kickoff returns and 6.5 yards on punt returns, and had his best year as a receiver, catching 18 passes for 410 yards. Swinton was acquired by the Arizona Cardinals for the 2005 season where, as the team's primary kick returner, he averaged 23.1 yards on kickoff returns and 8.0 yards on punt returns.
[edit] High School and College Years
Swinton attended Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and won All-State honors in football, basketball, baseball, and track.
At Murray State University from 1994-1997, he established the school record for career passes caught (136) and receiving yards (2,346). He was the first Murray State player to amass more than 1,000 yards receiving in a season (1,042 in 1996) and was selected All-Ohio Valley Conference that year. His Murray State receiving records have since been broken.
