Legendary NFL player and coach Raymond Berry, who helped transform the Colts passing game into pure prime-time spectacle and coached the New England Patriots to their first Super Bowl, has passed away at the age of 93. The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Berry’s death on June 1, 2026. Berry was a two-time NFL champion with the Colts when they were in Baltimore and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Berry wrapped up his career on the field as the league’s all-time leader in both catches and receiving yards at a time in the sport when wide receivers weren’t considered a necessity like they are today. Berry, who played professionally for 13 years, spent the entirety of his time in the sport with the Colts. He caught passes from another legendary player, quarterback Johnny Unitas, in what would become one of the first great quarterback-receiver pairings.
Unitas would throw bombs downfield, while Berry was the precision, creating routes that blew past defensive backs with a speed that rivaled The Flash. When Berry finally hung up his cleats at the conclusion of the 1967 season, he left behind the blueprint for what a successful wide receiver looked like. He was a six-time Pro-Bowl selection, a three-time first-team All-Pro and a three-time league leader in both receptions and receiving yards.
According to a report from Trending Politics News, Berry finished his career with 631 catches, 9,275 yards, and 68 touchdowns. This was a significant accomplishment as the sport at the time was focused heavily on running the ball rather than passing. Berry also proved to be an inspiration to fans by facing down adversity on and off the field. He was not a track star, nor did he play like one.
The wide receiver also had poor eyesight and was forced to wear a back brace and special shoes due to one of his legs being shorter than the other because of a spinal misalignment. He was drafted into the NFL in the 20th round in 1954 after he only caught 33 passes during three seasons of college ball at SMU. His early years in the league were spent fighting tooth-and-nail for a roster spot.
While Berry wasn’t the flashiest player on the field, he was consistent. He quickly developed a reputation as being one of the sport’s cleanest route runners and most reliable targets, almost never dropping the ball or missing passes. In his entire 13-year career, he only had one fumble. With Unitas at the helm, Berry became a centerpiece for the Colts.
From 1956 through 1966, he managed to nail down 600 receiving yards a season. From 1957 through 1966, he caught 40 passes a year, which might sound pretty unremarkable by today’s standards, but made quite a statement during his era of the sport. During the 1958 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, the Colts defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in sudden-death overtime, a game that was later dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
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In 1984, Berry became the head coach of the New England Patriots, guiding the team into a long period of success. Over a total of six seasons, Berry took the Patriots through four winning seasons. In 1985, he took the team all the way to the Super Bowl for their first appearance in the big game. They ultimately lost to the Chicago Bears, but history was made nonetheless.
“By the time he was finished, the numbers were undeniable, the moments were historic and the standard was set. In Baltimore and later in New England, Berry helped build the kind of football that now runs the league. Berry’s legacy is stamped into the NFL’s early modern era, when the league’s best teams began trusting the pass to win championships,” TPN concluded.