Hall of Fame Baltimore Colts receiver Raymond Berry dies at 93

Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox.

Legendary Baltimore Colts receiver Raymond Berry has died at 93.

A Pro Football Hall of Famer, Berry played his entire career in Baltimore, catching passes from another Hall of Famer and a local icon, quarterback Johnny Unitas. He died May 25 surrounded by family, according to the statement his family released through the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Berry’s number, 82, was retired by the Colts, who played in Baltimore from 1953-1983.

“In NFL history, there are only a handful of players who we can say truly changed the sport. Raymond Berry is one of the few names on that list,” the Indianapolis Colts said in a statement. “As a player during a historic era of Colts football, Raymond redefined the standard for what a wide receiver could and should be. … Simply put, not only was Raymond Berry one of the greatest players in the history of the Colts, but he was one of the most influential and foundational players of the modern NFL.”

He is also in the Ring of Honor for Baltimore’s current team, the Ravens.

“Raymond Berry is a football icon,” the Ravens said in a team statement. “As one of the greatest wide receivers in league history, he routinely thrilled fans with his clutch playmaking, precise approach and unmatched work ethic. His impact on Baltimore sports and the NFL will endure forever. We send our deepest condolences to Raymond’s family and friends — and to the countless fans who were inspired by his remarkable journey.”

A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Berry was named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team in 2019, marking the league’s 100th anniversary. Over his 13 seasons from 1955 to 1967, he led the league in catches and yards three times and in touchdowns twice.

Berry helped bring Baltimore two titles, including the 1958 NFL Championship, which came to be known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” The 23-17 win over the New York Giants was the first sudden-death win in the NFL, and it is considered responsible for elevating the popularity of pro football, now the country’s most-watched sport.

Berry stood out in that game, catching 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown in an era where passing was less prominent. His 12 catches held up as a championship game record until 2014.

The next season, when the Colts won their second championship, Berry led the league in receptions (66), receiving yards (959) and receiving TDs (14) over a 12-game season. He is one of just six players to lead the league in all of those categories in a single season.

While the Colts missed the postseason in 1960 with a 6-6 record, Berry continued to stand out. He caught 74 passes for 1,298 yards when only three other players topped 50 catches that season. It was Berry’s best career season, and he was named an All-Pro for the third straight year.

When Berry’s playing career came to a close in 1967, he retired with a then-record 631 receptions for 9,275 yards and 68 touchdowns.

Berry helped elevate the art of route running, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was known for his sure hands. He finished with just one fumble in 13 years.

He and Unitas, who joined the Colts one year after him, became one of the best pass-catching duos in NFL history.

His greatness was formed through repetition and work ethic. Many have remarked over the years that Berry was not the biggest or the fastest, but he would always stay after practice for extra reps, and he found ways to get open. Berry said he had 88 moves to shake defenders, and he practiced them relentlessly.

He also had an impressive vertical and developed strong hands, helping him to win what has now become referred to as the “50-50 ball.”

“I hated to drop a football,” Berry said in an interview used in “The Top 100 Greatest Players” from NFL Films. “It’s what motivated me … Every day, every week, I just drilled and drilled and drilled on making the catches that I did not know when they were going to come up in a game, I just knew they were [coming] sometime or another.”

He even came up with ingenious ways to improve his game. A Baltimore Sun article from 1986 detailed how Berry started wearing “sun goggles” to help him on sunny days and developed wrist bands to help haul in passes.

“He used to cut up towels and Freddy Schubach [then the team’s equipment manager] would get mad at him,” former Colts teammate Dick Szymanski said in the article. “His hands would get wet and he wanted to keep them dry to catch the ball. That was in the late ’50s. Everybody wears wristbands today.”

Raymond Emmett Berry was born Feb. 27, 1933, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

He was not considered a natural athlete and didn’t start on his high school football team in Paris, Texas, until his senior year, according to his Pro Football Hall of Fame biography, even though his father was the coach.

Berry played one year at a junior college before enrolling at Southern Methodist University, where he only had one modest season as a pass catcher while also spending time at linebacker and defensive end. After being drafted in the 20th round of the 1954 NFL Draft, Berry took his opportunity and ran with it, retiring as one of the game’s greatest players.

Following his playing days, Berry transitioned into coaching. He worked as a college coach and an assistant NFL coach before being named head coach of the New England Patriots in 1984.

The next season, Berry led the Patriots to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Chicago Bears.

He coached the Patriots until he was fired in 1989 and finished with a record of 48-39.

In 2012, with Super Bowl XLVI set to be played at the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Berry was asked to hand out the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the winner. The AFC championship game came down to his former city, Baltimore, and the team he coached, the Patriots.

Although the Colts left for Indianapolis in 1984, Berry still felt a connection to Baltimore. He told The Baltimore Sun he felt lucky to get the chance to either watch the team he coached or the city he played for in the Super Bowl.

“Imagine me, standing on the sidelines at the Super Bowl, knowing I have a connection with one of the teams that could win the thing,” Berry, then 77, told The Baltimore Sun. “The odds of that happening are pretty long — but I’ll take it."

Baltimore fell short of forcing overtime when kicker Billy Cundiff hooked a 32-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens lost 23-20. New England would go on to lose the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, 21-17.

Berry still visited Baltimore after his retirement. In 2009, he told reporters about attending a Baltimore Colts reunion arranged by Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti.

“We had a big ‘round up’ of the ’58 Colt team that took place there last December,” Berry said. “He invited everybody back, and it was a real treat, but we’re losing them [former Baltimore Colts] at a fast rate right now. The age range has gotten into the late 70’s and early 80’s, and so the attrition rate is increasing all the time. This particular reunion, there were a lot of absences.”

He said the thing he missed most about playing in Baltimore was the environment and atmosphere.

He, like many in Baltimore, never approved of the the Colts’ move to Indianapolis.

“It was one of the big mistakes the NFL made, allowing a team like the Baltimore Colts to move to a city like Indianapolis,” Berry told The Athletic in 2021. “They should have got their own team, not the Colts. It was really ridiculous the way they ended up doing that. The Baltimore Colts, we were so identified with Baltimore, to move the team to some other city was totally stupid.

“I’m still a Baltimore Colt, and I always will be. I don’t really have any identification with the Indianapolis Colts or the Baltimore Ravens. Neither one of them are my team. I’m a Baltimore Colt until I die.”

This article has been updated.

The Banner publishes news stories about people who have recently died in Maryland. If your loved one has passed and you would like to inquire about an obituary, please contact obituary@thebanner.com.

If you are interested in placing a paid death notice, please contact groupsales@thebanner.com or visit this website.